Harry Potter and the House of Merlin
by RisenDevil52
Summary: [Abandoned] AU Sixth Year fic, Harry returns to Hogwarts for his sixth year, old friendships and perhaps the whole school will change.
1. Leaving Privet Drive

**Chapter 1: Leaving Privet Drive**

Inside an ordinary house, in an ordinary room, sat an extraordinary boy. He did not appear to be extraordinary; if you passed him on the street he would not even catch your eye. He wore scruffy cloths, in drab colors; they didn't fit him well being at least three sizes to big, hand-me-downs from his cousin Dudley, the fit better since Dudley had begun to lose weight. Yet this young man was fated to defeat the most powerful evil known to either muggle or wizard kind.

This boy's name was Harry Potter, he had just returned to his aunt and uncle's home following his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was only three days into the summer and already the isolation from the Wizarding world and his friends was tearing Harry to pieces. This summer should have been wonderful, his cousin Dudley was spending the summer in the States, with the Smeltings Boxing team, and yet Harry lay on his bed so consumed by grief he had barley noticed his cousin's absence. _'Sirius'_ he thought, fighting off the tears.

It seemed impossible that he would never again see his godfather, Sirius Black. He had seen the older man die, felt time slow down as Sirius fell as he knew that there was no way to save his godfather and still his mind could not process the information, the pain, the guilt. This summer, should Dumbledore allow it, when Harry returned to Grimmauld Place he would not be returning to Sirius's house, he would be going to his own house. A house he did not need would never use, it would always hold to many memories of the godfather he had killed.

And there it was, the reason that Harry was so miserable, he had killed the closest thing to a parent that he had ever known. No he hadn't cast the spell that sent Sirius through the veil but he had gone to the Department of Mysteries, he had gotten himself into trouble and Sirius had come to help, he had as good as killed the man. If he had just listened to his friends, just waited for a member of the Order of the Phoenix, instead of charging off to the Ministry of Magic, his godfather would still be alive. True his name would not have been cleared, he would still be stuck in Grimmauld Place with no one but Kreacher for company, but he would be alive.

"Damn it," he growled at his ceiling, "Why do I always have to be the hero, why?" Harry glared at his ceiling, with enough malice to deter even Draco Malfoy. It seemed almost astounding to him that three days and nights of his stares had failed to change his ceiling at all, no dent no hole, his hatred, his shame was pouring out of his gaze and still it had no effect. He only left his room for food and the wash room, and the Dursley's seemed content to leave him alone.

Just then he heard a thump down stairs, he didn't move it was probably just his aunt and uncle returning from the store, and even if it wasn't what did he care. Dinner would not be for at least two more hours, and he was so tired he had not slept since his return to Privet Drive, he felt his eyes slide closed and his last thought was a plea not to dream of is godfather.

_He was walking down a corridor, he didn't recognized it at first until he saw her slumped against the wall her ankle broken, panting. He knew then that he was in the Department of Mysteries;_ _suddenly they began to glide along toward another door, the door that Sirius' knife had failed to open. They were going to crash, they weren't stopping, they went directly through the door and suddenly Harry saw Ginny as he had never seen her before her hair was floating around her and the lilac gown she wore made her appear to be not a girl, but a beautiful young woman, there seemed to be a glow around her, and his mouth dropped open he didn't know what to say, didn't even know what to think. This could not be Ron's little sister, the tag-along who had until recently been unable to talk to him. She opened her mouth started to speak…_

"Boy get down here, its time for dinner, our food is getting cold!" bellowed Uncle Vernon. Harry jumped up and hurried out of the room, he did not think he could handle a fight just now. They sat around the table eating, Uncle Vernon telling them about some new customers, Harry was not really listening, and his thoughts were on Ginny. The dream must have been a mistake, the girl he knew was no great beauty, and she was just a kid, his best friend's kid sister at that. Ron would kill him for thinking about her that way, the thought of Ron was even scarier than Voldemort, but still he felt his mind slide back to the girl

For the second time that day Harry's mind was ripped away from Ginny by the sound of his Uncle's voice. "Your Aunt Marge will be here in two weeks time; I expect you to have the house cleaned when she arrives. Understand?"

Harry mumbled that he understood and would start first thing in the morning and then he trudged back up to his room, thinking that the work to clean the house would at least keep him from thinking about Sirius. He almost dropped dead from shock when he saw the entire Weasley family and Hermione, sitting on his bed, all of his things were packed and there was a ratty umbrella, which he assumed was a portkey, in Mr. Weasley's hands.

"Hello, old boy," said Fred and George in unison, "your presence is requested at the wedding of one Rubeus Hagrid and Olympe Maxime."

Harry's chin nearly dropped through the floor. "Your bloody joking." he stammered "they're getting married?" They said their hello's quickly, not having much to catch up on, in just three days. Mrs. Weasley's lips had puckered slightly at his choice words, and then she stood and said "I'll just go tell the muggles that we are taking you and we will be off." He did a double take at seeing Percy with them, last he had heard the family was not speaking to him, he was about to ask what had happened but Hermione shot him a look that said to leave it and then quickly continued talking about the wedding.

"The wedding is a week from Saturday," said Hermione "but we have tons to do before then. Oh, this will be so exciting, a wedding!" It was obvious that she could barely contain her joy, and an odd sort of maniacal gleam had appeared in her eyes and Ginny's. And for a moment the weight of the world lifted off of his shoulders, it was good to see his sister, happy like this. Where had that come from? Hermione was not his sister, she was his friend true, one of his best friends but that was all. He looked over to Ron and saw the way he was looking at Hermione, and then he knew from the protective feeling that had risen up in his chest that he had stooped thinking of Hermione as a friend and she was family now.

Harry leaned over to Ron and said considerably louder than he needed to, "Hey mate, what do we have to do? Buy a present I guess but I already have dress robes."

Ron whacked his forehead with his palm, "I am such a git, a present why didn't I think of that." Then he turned to Harry, "well, apparently we aren't supposed to wear wizard clothes, as the giants tend to distrusted wizards so we have to wear some muggle things called tucksdedos."

"Tuxedos? But we'll look like penguins." Harry stated as he pulled a face.

"Well, we'll just be off then," said Mrs. Weasley tersely coming back into the room, ending all conversation. Apparently meeting the Dursley's had not agreed with her. With that, Mr. Weasley shrunk Harry's trunk and placed it in his pocket, then held out the umbrella so everyone could grab hold of it. Then Harry felt a tug behind his navel and they were off.

They landed in the bedroom of Grimmauld Place that he had always shared with Ron, everyone climbed to their feet, Mr. Weasley returned Harry's trunk to normal size and everyone filed out until only Harry, Ron and Hermione remained. Hermione hugged Harry and Ron slapped him on the back, they seemed unsure of how to start the conversation. Harry decided to help them out and start it for them.

"So Percy is staying here now?"

"Well, no actually to be honest he doesn't even know where here is exactly. He has to be brought in by portkey and even then no one is totally at ease with him being here." Hermione explained hurriedly, with a nervous glance at Ron. "Not all of the members of the Order feel that he is to be trusted but he can't give away anything anyway so he comes to see his family sometimes."

"The stupid prat," Ron said darkly. It was obvious to both Harry and Hermione that he had been hurt much more deeply by Percy's betrayal than he wanted anyone to believe.

Trying to quickly change the subject Harry launched a series of questions, "When did you hear about the wedding? Where is it? What type of present are we supposed to give them? What is Madame Maxime going to do at Hogwarts this year?"

Hermione cleared her throat, "She won't be at Hogwarts, Harry. She and Hagrid are going to live at Beauxbattons." Seeing the crestfallen look on Harry's face she quickly continued on with his other questions. "We heard about the wedding the first night here from Dumbledore, Hagrid is coming to dinner tomorrow, said he needed to talk to you. And as far as a present goes, he wants us to take Fang. There will be no place to keep him at Beauxbattons and Hagrid say that he could never make Fang leave the forests were he grew up anyway."

"He's leaving,' said Harry in a daze.

"Wait, we have to take Fang!" said Ron incredulously. "When did you find out about this?"

"I used Floo Powder to call him and tell him congratulations, and he asked me then. He says he knows Fang will have to leave Hogwarts in the summer but, at least he will spend most of the year at his home."

"So, when are we going to get our tuxes?" Harry asked trying to keep his mind off of the fact that his first friend in the wizarding world, or ever really, would no longer be a short walk away from his dormitory. "I mean, they don't exactly sell those in Diagon Alley."

"Dad already picked them up for us; we just have to make sure that they fit. I think ours are black and white but I don't know what colors the girls are wearing."

Hermione let out an exasperated sigh, "Ron, we are not wearing tuxedos, your mom is taking Ginny and me tomorrow to shop for _gowns_." With that she turned on her heel and went out the door. Ron just stared after her, with a look that clearly said that he though Hermione was insane. "Girls," he muttered under his breath.


	2. The HalfGiant Wedding

The next week passed in a blur, when the girls were around they talked of nothing but the wedding, and always had that same half-crazed look in their eyes, Harry asked Ron about it once and Fred and George over heard and explained in a superior tone that girls were obsessed with the idea of marriage, unfortunately Hermione had heard them and threw an especially heavy book at them, leaving George with a black eye. Harry and Ron spent their days playing chess; Harry actually managed to beat the lanky red head once. When the girls finally returned home late in the evening after their fifth day of shopping, they all had dresses and Harry and Ron tried to get Hermione to let her see her dress thinking that it would help them understand what they fuss had been about, but she refused.

Three nights before the wedding Hagrid came to dinner; Mrs. Weasley served a fantastic feast for the blushing half-giant, before he left he pulled Harry aside and asked him to be his best man, which Harry agreed to immediately; trying not to think of how much he would miss his friend. He was greatly relieved, as well to discover that the bachelor party was strictly a muggle tradition, as he could not imagine himself throwing one with all that he had heard about them.

The ceremony was to be held in front of the lake at Hogwarts, so early on the Friday morning before the wedding the group left Grimmauld Place to stay at the castle. They were to stay in Gryffindor tower, from which the Fat Lady's portrait had been temporarily removed in order to make access to their rooms easier. Friday was spent talking with the couple and helping Hagrid to finish packing. The trio also used this time to say their good-byes to Hagrid, as they would be leaving on their honeymoon immediately after the reception and not returning to Hogwarts.

The wedding was to be held at sunset, luckily Saturday turned out to be beautiful, the sun was shining and it was pleasantly warm without being hot. The morning passed well; Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and the twins went for a walk on the grounds, but returned for lunch. The girls ate quickly and then hurried up to the tower to get ready and the guys decided to play Quidditch to pass the time. They agreed to meet at the reception, since then Harry needed to meet in Hagrid's hut to prepare for the ceremony.

As the sun began to sink toward the lake, the guests began to stream toward the chairs set-up at the side of the lake. Dumbledore stood under an archway, its framework was made of deep red cherry wood and a glistening pattern had been woven by one of Aragog's daughters specifically for the occasion. The pattern consisted of hundreds of tiny interlocking hearts; and the sun caught the strands and created a halo of tiny rainbows. Two groups of chairs were set on either side of an abnormally large aisle, which was strewn with white rose petals. Hagrid and Harry took their places at the archway. Then a magically enchanted quartet of cellos began to play a wedding march, and Fleur Delacour, her former headmistress' maid of honor started down the aisle wearing a pale blue and silver gown which seemed to make her white hair glow, Harry saw in a brief glimpse the way Bill looked at her, if Fate would allow it theirs could very well be the next wedding that Harry attended. As one, the guest rose and Olympe started down the aisle to them, her white dress beautifully complimented her olive skin and her normally neat bun had been taken down and her hair tumbled down around her shoulders, she carried a bouquet of deep red roses. Harry glanced at Hagrid and saw that the older man had tears of joy in his eyes. Then as he looked back at Olympe, a hint of lavender caught his eye; he looked over in shock and saw Ginny, in the gown she had been in his dream, and realized that there would never be any one for him but Ginny. He was jarred out of his shock by the sound of the headmaster's voice. He turned his attention back to the wedding and watched his heart nearly bursting with happiness as his friend began the newest phase of his life.

After Dumbledore pronounced the couple man and wife, they turned and lead the way up to the castle where the reception was being held in the Great Hall, which was decorated with millions of white roses. Along with the elegant meal provided by the house elves, which Hermione started to turn up her nose at, there was a roast and several casserole made by the groom himself, Hermione was inspired to eat the elfish fair when she saw a tail sticking out of one of the casseroles despite this everyone felt the should eat some of the dishes that Hagrid had made to spare his feelings. They were all spared this most distressing fate when Fang jumped up on the buffet table and ate all of the dishes Hagrid had prepared. Hagrid was able to pull the dog off of the table before he got a hold of the food that the house elves had prepared. After everyone had finished eating, Dumbledore cleared the tables away and the enchanted cellos began to play again, they were soon joined by and entire orchestra of enchanted instruments.

Hagrid led his new wife onto the dance floor, and Harry was surprised at how agile they were. As the dance continued they were joined by other couples, until Harry, Hermione and the youngest two Weasleys were left. Ron turned bright red and asked Hermione, through much stammering, to dance. As they began to dance, Harry stared resolutely at them, the looked good together, the moved around the floor with ease Hermione's dark rose gown reminding him of Ron's Christmas sweaters as it swirled around her, he could not meet Ginny's eyes if he did he would have to ask her to dance.

"Harry," Ginny said uncertainly, "will you dance with me?"

Harry looked up at her and she looked so scared, he felt so bad that he could not let his own nervousness make her feel worse, so he looked her in the eyes, smiled and said, "Absolutely, I would be honored to." He took her hand and they walked to the dance floor. As they started to dance, there were a few moments of awkward silence and then as they began to follow the music Harry realized that she was the same person that he had been his friend for a year. Still unsure of what to say he began to rack his brain for something to talk about, and then it hit him she had said on the train ride home from school that she was with Dean Thomas. Ouch, that stung a little, okay maybe a lot, but he felt like they had to talk about something, so he pulled together his courage and asked, "How are things going with Dean?"

"O, pretty well, I guess…um… we write each other, he asks me how summer is but, I can't tell him where we're staying so it's a little hard to talk to him." Ginny turned scarlet as she said this and would not look Harry in the eye. "So have you been keeping up with Quidditch this summer?" she asked clearly anxious to change the subject. They finished the dance and spent the rest of the evening talking about Quidditch, until Harry felt a tap on his back, he looked down to see Dobby in a tee-shirt with a bowtie and vest printed on it, the bottom of the shirt hung at the elf's ankles, and a top hat which kept slipping it his eyes. "Please, Harry Potter, sir, may Dobby dance with the beautiful Ms. Wheezy?" Harry looked up at Ginny unsure how to answer the question, he was saved the trouble of having to answer as Ginny reached down for the elf's hand and said "I would love to dance with you." As the walked off Harry noticed that the elf looked positively giddy, and he began to scan the room for Ron and Hermione, he gave up and choose a chair as they were no were to be seen.

Harry wandered back up to Gryffindor Tower later, and found Ron and Hermione talking in front of the fire; they jumped up and said awkward good-nights. Then they all trouped up to their dormitories, as Harry and Ron pack their stuff up, and got ready to sleep, Harry asked "So where were you all night? I didn't see you and Hermione anywhere?"

"Yeah, we went for a walk." Ron told him clearly uneasy about the discussion.

He realized quickly that he needn't have worried as Harry responded distractedly, "That's great." Ron gave Harry a quizzical look reasonably sure his friend was not really listening to him but let it drop because he was not sure what to make of the evenings events anyway. Each wrapped up in their own thoughts they climbed into bead and drifted off to sleep.


	3. Return to Grimmuald Place

**Chapter 3: Return to Grimmauld Place**

Harry awoke early the next morning, dressed and went down to the common room; he was surprised to find Hermione sitting by the fire. "Good morning, heard about you and Ron spending the entire evening alone." He said teasingly.

"Yes, well… I saw you dancing with Ginny last night," she said looking at him slyly. "I've only seen you look at Cho that way."

Harry's jaw dropped, "I don't know what you're talking about," he said. Turning away to try to hide his blush, he couldn't believe she had seen that.

"Don't look so surprised, Harry, I know you to well not to notice."

"Ron didn't notice," he mumbled.

"Yes, well Ron is not exactly the brightest now is he." She laughed at the smirk on Harry's face. She blushed a little before she continued, "It's true, or at least he would never notice something like that, but that doesn't matter, what are you going to do about her?"

"There is nothing to do about it, she is with Dean, I mean, come on he's my friend. Besides, she's my best friend's baby sister; I can't date her that would be weird."

"What you mean is Ron would be ready to kill you, and probably his brothers as well."

"Well, yeah, but…" he let the thought trail off. "Anyway, I have enough people trying to kill me."

"Okay then, fair enough, but keep in mind that Ginny would be worth the fight."

"I know, I know. So tell me did anything happen with you and Ron last night? I know perfectly well, that he likes you."

"No," she answered a bit dismayed, "I had hoped that he would ask me out but he didn't. I really thought that he liked me, I am such a fool." She looked like she was on the verge of tears and Harry had an overwhelming desire to kick Ron's ass, then shake him senseless and tell him to wake up, and see how wonderful Hermione really was.

"No, Hermione, your not a fool, Ron's just a git, that's all. You'll see soon enough it will get through his thick skull and he will ask you out."

Hermione looked up at him gratefully and blinked away her tears, but before she could say anything they were joined by the twins, and Mrs. Weasley coming through the portrait hole from the sound of the lecture that Molly was giving them, they had spent the night in Hogsmeade drinking the entire supply of firewhiskey in the village. Her screaming brought the rest of the Weasley clan pouring down the stairs. Harry gave Hermione a quick hug and felt her wipe away her tears, before the others lost interest in the battle between the twins and their mother and asked what was wrong.

"Drunk, how could you, out all night, I was worried sick, sent your father to find you," Mrs. Weasley was fully into her rant now there would be no stopping her. "Just because you are of age does not mean that I stopped worrying about your safety, in times like these, you're out and unable to protect yourselves." She continued to yell at them for what seemed like hours, but was really only about twenty minutes and then turned to the assembled crowd and snapped for them to get ready to leave. No one stayed still long enough to she what would happen if they disobeyed, and within two minutes they were gathered around the portkey home.

When they arrived in Grimmauld Place Mrs. Weasley sent them all to put away their things while she prepared the breakfast that they had missed while at the castle. Ginny and Hermione hurried up the stairs to gossip about what had happened at the reception, Harry, Ron and the twins lagged behind, Harry and Ron stared up at the door that had just closed behind the girls trying to make sense of what had just happened.

"Girls," said Fred shaking his head, "they all think that they have to tell each other everything, it's like they will die if they keep a secret to themselves."

The boys did not notice the door moving as it eased back open and Ginny step back out into the hall, she picked up the potion bottle that Snape had left after the last Order meeting and whipped it at George. Before anyone knew what was happening George disappeared in a puff of smoke, and a small fluorescent blue newt with neon green spots was left in his place. They all stared at it dumbfounded for several seconds, until he turned back into a human, although his freckles were still green.

"Damn it, man! That's the second time I've gotten blamed for you making fun of them! Do you want them to kill me!" and Ginny disappeared with a swish of her hair. While the others stared at the now closed door Harry broke into hysterical laughter, lost his balance and fell down the stairs taking the Weasley boys with him, the loud thump that they caused as they landed in a heap, set Mrs. Black to screaming and brought the other occupants of the house into the hall. Then Ron's trunk the only one still partially on the stairs began to slide down the steps as to boys dove out of the way, they tackled Remus who was coming in the door carrying a large jug of pumpkin juice, the impact forced the jug out of his hands and it shattered on the plaque of Kreacher's mother, showering the crowd in the hall. The boys jumped up in a panic and scrambled up the stairs, while Mrs. Weasley was still too shocked to begin yelling, in a fashion to rival Mrs. Black.

Later the entire group was gathered around the table eating breakfast in an awkward silence, still concerned that Molly would be upset about the incident in the entryway. Mr. Weasley was the first to break the silence, "Dumbledore feels that the Burrow is no longer safe, we will need to go after breakfast and gather the rest of our things." Mrs. Weasley visible paled, but said nothing. "Harry and Hermione you can stay here and relax of the day." He continued, the silence moved from awkward to tense. Several people pushed away their plates and those who did not weren't really eating just picking at the food in front of them.

Mrs. Weasley stood and began to gather the dishes to wash them, but she was shaking so badly that she nearly dropped them, Harry jumped to his feet and took the dishes. "Let me do that Mrs. Weasley, you go and take care of your house, I'll clean up here." She smiled at him, gave his shoulder a squeeze and nodded. She walked over to the fireplace and took down the silver box of Floo Powder and she was off in a surge off green flames, the rest of them followed in a somber train. Harry quietly cleaned the breakfast dishes the muggle way, while Hermione and Remus sat at the table discussing S.P.E.W.

The day dragged on slowly, they played several games of exploding snap not really worried about the outcome of the games, as the war loomed heavy in their minds, hit home by the morning's announcement about the Burrow. Harry and Hermione had always considered the Burrow to be as safe as Grimmauld Place, nearly as safe as Hogwarts, and Remus felt crushed by the weight that had suddenly been placed on the children's shoulders. Oh, he knew that they weren't really children anymore; they had seen too much for that to be true, but the only made the situation seem sadder.

Harry and Hermione move to the stove intending to cook lunch not because they were hungry, mostly so they would have something to do. However it was this decision which would prevent Tonks from seeing them as she ran into the room, panting frantic, Harry would regret that bitterly in the next few moments. "Remus…" the metamorphagus puffed, "where is Dumbledore? Attack…the Grangers…both dead."


	4. Granger's Grief

**Chapter 4: Granger's Grief**

All Tonks managed to get out before she lost all of her strength was the news that Mr. and Mrs. Granger were dead, then she collapsed to the floor and as she lay their panting, her eyes fell on the younger witch and grew wider with horror, pity and pain. Her last thought before she passed out was that no one should have to receive such horrible news that way.

Hermione let out a heart wrenching wail and her knees seemed to give out under her, Harry caught her in a hug as she fell and she buried her head in his shoulder. The distraught girl just kept chanting the same thing over and over again "No, no, mommy, daddy, no," sobs continued to wrack her body, the teenagers sat their holding each other and as they sat crumpled on the floor, Harry let fall the tears that he had been holding in all summer, the tears for Sirius, the tears for all of the others who would lose their lives in this war and tears for himself, in that moment he knew what he had to do, their was no choice, he must stop Voldemort, stop him from causing this pain. Remus revived Tonks and left the room, helping Tonks up, so that she could report to Dumbledore, who was resting in one of the upstairs bedrooms. Unsure what to do after he delivered Tonks to the Headmaster, Remus tentatively reentered the kitchen, Harry and Hermione had let go of each other, their tears had slowed to mere trickles, Hermione was speaking in a quiet voice, "Harry, what am I going to do, I'm all alone, I have no family…"

Harry reached out and placed a hand on her cheek, he reached the other hand out to Remus, who came and took it, looking Hermione directly in the eye, he said with such confidence and comfort that none of them could doubt it, "We will be each others family, we have all lost the people who we considered family and now because we love each other and we understand what the others have lost, you will be my sister, Hermione as well as my friend, and Remus will be both friend and uncle to us, and we will always be there for each other no matter what, we will not let the other suffer alone." As Harry finished speaking, Remus felt tears sliding gently down his face and felt Hermione reach up and gently take hold of his hand, she then reached up with her free hand and took Harry's hand from her cheek and gave it a gentle squeeze. And that is the way the Weasleys found them ten minutes later, this new family, hands joined, a young wizard and a young witch sitting on the floor, with their uncle, not by blood but by love, standing next to them.

"Hello, dears," said Mrs. Weasley brightly, stepping out of the fireplace. Her eyes came to rest immediately on the strange circle before her and she knew instantly what had happened. Dropping the things she was caring she rushed over, fell to her knees, bringing Remus down with her, and enfolded them in her embrace tears falling from her eyes onto Hermione's hair. The others came through the fire and saw pain written on the faces of their friends and family and were unsure what to think of this, until Tonks, recovered from her flight earlier, came in to the room, and gave them understanding in the form of two words, "the Grangers."

The group on the floor seemed not to hear her but they released each other, and rose to their feet, Ginny rushed forward and hugged Hermione fiercely, "O, 'Mione, I am so sorry." Tears shone in her eyes and were obvious in her voice. Ron stepped forward and put his arms around the two girls her loved best his sister and the girl who he had been in love with since he had helped to save her from a mountain troll, and he made a silent promise to himself to tell her that as soon as possible. They stood there for several moments and then broke up the hug so that the rest of the Weasley family could offer their condolences. Clearly exhausted, the normally composed and in-charge girl looked lost, and somehow smaller. "Please, I just want to lie down for a while."

"Of course, dear, would you like a dreamless sleep potion?" Mrs. Weasley asked her voice full of concern. After the girl nodded she went to the cupboard and removed it, "Ginny, why don't you go…"

But Mrs. Weasley was stopped mid-way through her suggestion, "Harry, and I will go sit with her, Molly." Remus said quietly. Hermione looked at him with gratitude plain in her face. Molly handed Remus the potion and Harry put an arm over his sister's shoulder, and they moved up stairs. Molly looked after them her face full of sorrow, she understood the new bond that had formed between them, they were all that was left of their families and they all needed that support, people who needed them and people who they could always lean on, and she knew to that should her children be left alone, with out their parents, they would be taken into that family as well, and she felt a great burden lifted of off her.


	5. The Defense Professor

**Chapter 5: The Defense Professor**

Hermione lost her parents exactly one week before Harry's birthday, because her grief was too raw for her to deal with she threw herself, into planning a party for him. She wanted to invite all of their school friends, but Dumbledore would not consent to have them at Grimmauld Place and it was just to dangerous for them to go anywhere else so, it turned out that just the Weasleys, Harry, Hermione, Remus, Fleur and all of the members of the Order of the Phoenix were invited. Harry seemed to have let go of his anger towards the old man, probably mostly due to the fact that he was sharing much more about Voldemort's plans with them, not that there seemed to be too many of those anyway. The summer passed reasonably well this way, although Hermione was deeply saddened she did not brood as Harry had been apt to do all through their previous year.

Start of term letters arrived several days before Harry's birthday, and Mrs. Weasley went to Diagon Alley to get their supplies. They were all thrilled with their O.W.L.S., Hermione received top marks in every exam that she sat for, while Harry missed this goal by just one exam-Divination, and Ron received O.W.L.S. in every subject accept Divination and History of Magic, apparently he was not good enough at making up names of Goblins and ancient battles past as he thought. Ginny was completely unconcerned about not being chosen as a prefect and everyone was thrilled to find that Harry was to be Quidditch captain, although not entirely surprised, given that Ron was the only other player who had been on the team a full year. However, they were all slightly surprised to discover that no new books had been set for Defense Against the Dark Arts and footnote of the letter declared that when one had been chosen it would be provided to all of the students by the school, they had many theories about why this could be, the popular being that no one was willing to take the job, after all, look at the last five professors. They had been killed, forced to resign, kidnapped, chased off of school grounds, and permanently relieved of their memories, not really much to look forward to.

They received the answer to their questions the evening prior to Harry's birthday, when the Headmaster stopped by, and asked to speak to Harry alone. They went into the library where they could sit quietly without disturbing too many of the others, only Hermione used the room on a regular basis. "Harry as you may have noticed, there was not a text assigned for Defense Against the Dark Arts, this is not as you may have assumed because I have been unable to find a teacher for the course, in truth I have several willing candidates. They are all reasonably well qualified, not the least of these being Professor Snape," Dumbledore's eyes twinkled merrily as Harry's lip curled. "Yes, I know how you feel about him, and many of the other students would agree with you. But that is not the reason I asked to meet with you, I feel and many of the staff agrees with me, that in these trying times, it is important that the students trust their teachers. This is most especially true of the teacher who will be teaching them to defend themselves against the growing threat of Voldemort. Due to our unfortunate luck with our recent string of poor teachers in this subject," he saw Harry begin to protest. "With the exception of Professor Lupin, of course, that the students will be unable to trust any adult, with the exception of the afore mentioned professor. However, because of his condition their parents will not trust him with the safety of their children. So to get to the point, we would like to ask you to teach the course."

Harry stared at the Headmaster, his mouth opening and closing, no sound coming out. He seemed to suddenly regain his voice, and stammered, "I can't…I have two more years of school…how would I teach the seventh years…Fudge would never allow it…would listen to me…I don't know how to teach…can you picture Malfoy's face…I don't have nearly enough power…why not Hermione…why not you or Tonks or anyone else." Although many of these were questions they didn't come out as such, they were statements. Yet even while he said them, he began to much like with the DA the year before, plan lessons in his head.

"I believe you can, or I would not have asked. Your knowledge of defense is more advanced than many of the students who received N.E.W.T.s end of last year, I have spoken to the minister and he has agreed, you taught the DA, you have much more power than you think and I believe you will becoming into more shortly, as I said the students trust you, and I don't believe it would be appropriate for me to comment on Mr. Malfoy, although that does promise to be a most intriguing sight." After he finished his speech Dumbledore sat silently giving Harry time to process this information.

"How would I get students like Malfoy to listen in my class?" Harry asked quietly.

"With in the confines of your classroom you will have all of the powers of a Professor. You will be allowed to take points, give exams, and assign detentions. These powers will have to be used responsibly."

"What you mean is that, I will not be allowed to persecute Malfoy with my powers as a teacher," he said with a laugh before continuing. "Will I still be allowed to interact normally with the students? I mean, spend time with my friends, eat with them, and date if the opportunity presented itself?"

"I see no reason why not; provide that you conduct your affairs within the bounds of school rules and with decorum."

"Very well, I will do it, because all of the students of Hogwarts deserve to be safe. I do however have one more question, what is to become of the DA?"

"Ah, the DA is going to be turned in to a school sponsored club for the students, years four through seven. It is to be reformed not as Dumbledore's Army but the Dueling Club, and will be lead by a representative of the Ministry of Magic, Nymphadora Tonks."

"Tonks? Is gonna teach us to duel?"

"Indeed she is Mr. Potter, do not be fooled by her clumsiness she is a formidable opponent. Now I must be going back to the school, you may tell the people staying in this house of your new appointment, but I ask that you avoid telling the other students and allow them to find out from me at the welcoming feast. I bid you Good-night, Harry."

"Good night, Headmaster," Harry said weakly sinking down into a chair.


	6. New Powers

**Chapter 6: New Powers**

Ron, Hermione and Ginny looked up from where they were seated on the stairs as Dumbledore came striding out of the library, they looked past him for Harry but could not see their friend. They all felt slightly nervous, they tried to listen on the extendable ears, but that had failed as Dumbledore had placed an Imperturbable Charm on the room, obviously as a precaution against just that. "You may go in and see him now; I believe he is too shocked to come out at the moment." And with a chuckle he strode out the front door.

"Totally mad, that one," Ron muttered and they jumped up and went into to find out what exactly had their friend so shocked. When they walked into the library they found Harry, slumped in a chair, staring at the wall, they called his name several times and he did not seem to notice them.

Ron started to the door to get his mother, Harry snapped out of his daze, "Hold up mate, I'm alright. Just a bit of a surprise really. I mean, wow…"

Hermione raised an eyebrow, and said in a sugary voice, "Well, then that explains it all, doesn't it."

Harry blushed and make a face at Hermione, "Sorry, It's just a little hard to grasp is all. I had no idea what Dumbledore wanted to talk to me about, and he's always been a little around the bend but to ask me to be a Professor, who would have thought." They spent the rest of the evening discussing lesson's for the year, and Hermione promised to help Harry choose a text book, and Ron kept interrupting their discussion, falling to the floor in hysterics, randomly spluttering words like, 'Malfoy…face…teacher…points…" and then he would become completely impossible to understand.

They were still in the library well after midnight, not realizing it was now Harry's birthday, Ron was again on the floor as someone had said Malfoy. Harry looked at his friend shook his head, "Come on, Ron shut up already." The air seemed to fill with magical energy, and Ron sat up and his mouth snapped shut and he was silent.

Everyone was quite stunned by this and unsure how to react, when Hermione looked at her watch and said suddenly, "Oh my, we need to get to bed, it's after one!" They all left the room minds still reeling from what they had just seen. They moved upstairs and through the hall silently to avoid waking either of the formidable mothers in the house.

They awoke slightly later than usual the next morning and as they dressed Harry looked out the window, disappointed to see that it was storming, "Wow, I wish it were nicer out today." As the young wizard finished speaking, the rain slowed to a stop, and the sun began to drive the clouds away. Harry turned to see Ron gaping at him.

"How did you do that, mate, it just stopped raining."

"I didn't it's just a coincidence, I didn't stop the storm." Harry stammered hurrying out the door and down to breakfast.

"Yeah, you did. And last night you made me stop laughing."

"Ron, you made yourself stop laughing, and so what if the storm stopped when I wished it would, I bet hundreds of people in London were wishing it would." Harry countered as they entered the kitchen.

"Look, we're friends, I don't care, just tell me how you did it." Ginny and the twins were seated at the breakfast table; they looked up as the friends came into the room arguing.

Ginny could sense Harry's frustration rising, as he spun to face Ron. "Ron, if it was something I did I would tell how, I did it, but," his voice rising, "IT WAS NOT ME!"

Ron opened his mouth to continue arguing, but Ginny jumped up from her chair quickly, and said in a warning tone "Ron, just let it go."

"Gin, I just…"

"No, Ron shut up!" She through her hands forward emphatically. As she did this several things happened at once, the cupboard behind Ron exploded; pots, pans, and pieces of dishes clattered onto the floor, accompanied by a loud shriek from the doorway, Ron threw himself onto the floor looking for the source of the bang, and the twins stood and began to applaud the scene.

No one knew what to make of the situation and stood staring. Hermione was the first to speak, "Did you see that, that surge of red light around Ginny?" Five red heads and one black one swiveled to look at the girl framed in the doorway.

"'Mione, are you all right?" Ron asked her, looking at her as if she had turned green.

"There was a huge gathering of red light around Ginny, just before the explosion. It seemed so angry." She said this all in a quiet voice, looking at the floor, afraid that they would think she was crazy.

"You're not nuts; it sounds like you were aura reading. Only a really powerful wizard can do that, we knew you were powerful but, that's pretty impressive." George said consolingly.

"Thank you, Fred, that makes me feel better," said Hermione mistaking the two brothers.

For a minute, Fred looked amused while rage gathered behind George's eyes. Then George erupted, loud enough to shake the whole house, "That's it from now on we are wearing our sweaters!" Hermione looked horrorstruck, unsure how to make amends in the face of his anger. Then George chuckled, and said, "Only joking, 'Mione, I don't mind." The girl turned bright red, in a blush to rival any of the Weasleys, and then joined the others as they began to laugh.

Unsure of what exactly was going on with the powers of the teenagers in her care and concerned that her son's suspicions about Harry's role in the two incidents which led to the mess in the kitchen may have been correct, Mrs. Weasley confined them for the day in the front parlor, a room which contained only a fireplace, a rug and several couches. They passed the day in relative quiet, each lost in their own thoughts, occasionally the silence was broken as someone turn to snap at Hermione for staring at them, she always apologized, explaining that she was just watching their aura change as they mulled over recent events. They avoided most other mishaps, although Ginny did accidentally blow the leg off a sofa.

As evening drew nearer they began to talk again, feeling that, they all needed to cheer up, Harry started telling them stories of the marauder's pranks that Sirius told him about. Before long they were laughing like a pack of hyenas. They continued laughing until tears rolled down their cheeks, and when they finally stopped Harry, Hermione, and Ginny looked around the room, unsure what to think, Ron was missing! "Umm…guys help," they heard Ron's voice call to them timidly, and as one their heads snapped up and the saw him bobbing against the ceiling.

"Ron," said Ginny in an awestruck voice, "how did you get up their?"

"I don't know. I was listening to the story and then I felt something hit my head, so I forced myself to stop laughing so that I could find out what hit me and I was up here."

"Right, so any ideas, on how to get him down? Ron why down you try swimming through the air?" Harry suggested, making a valiant effort not to laugh at his friend's predicament. The watched him try to propel himself through the air, using a frog kick, and saw that that idea was completely useless.

"Well," said Hermione always willing to help, "have you tried just willing yourself down?" The look on his faced told her that he had and it was apparent from the fact that he was still, floating that it had not worked.

Ginny took a deep breath, and looked up at her older brother eyes wide, she started talking in a sweet voice, although she sounded slightly nervous, "Ron, there is something that I have been meaning to tell you, and since you are stuck up there this is probably the best time to tell you. I know that I have been dating Dean, but I don't really like him, in fact I am in love with someone else. Please don't be mad at me, you're my brother and I just want you to be happy for me, but," the volume of her voice dropped even lower, "it's Draco Malfoy, I know you don't like him but I really, really…"

But she never finished her sentence; Ron fell to the floor with a loud thump, and within seconds he was on his feet yelling at her. Harry just stared at them his heart, felt like it had been ripped from his chest, she was in love, and with Malfoy, nothing seemed right with the world. As he stared at her Harry noticed Ginny's face crack into a smile, "It was just a joke, Ron, calm down, I just thought that maybe a shock would knock you out of the air, I couldn't tell you or it wouldn't work."

Harry felt his heart return to his chest and begin beating several times faster than normal, she didn't love Malfoy, was all he could think. He looked up at his best friend, he was a shade of purple so deep Harry would swear that he had to have dyed his skin, even Uncle Vernon could not be that mad. But, it was clear Ginny's words were sinking in as he had stopped yelling, some of the color was beginning to drain out of him and he began to breathe normally. They all eyed him wearily for several minutes, afraid that he would snap, their minds were put to rest however, when he suggested that they play Gobstones, since they had nothing else to do they all agreed. That's where they were an hour later when Albus Dumbledore walked into the room followed by Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood.


	7. An Interview with the Headmaster

**Chapter 7: An Interview with the Headmaster**

"Good evening all," their Headmaster said as he sank onto one of the couches in the room, motioning for the others to have a seat as well. "I have heard that you all seem to be having a difficult day. I am here to see if we can shed some light on that situation. Now, let's see so far, Harry somehow made Ron stop laughing on command, and then seemingly stopped a storm by wishing it was over, then Miss. Weasley blew-up the cupboard in the kitchen using wandless magic, and it appears a few of the legs on the sofa, next Miss. Granger becomes able to see auras, and Mr. Longbottom healed, using only his own magic, his toad after it was hit by the Knight bus, and Ms. Lovegood predicted accurately I might add the exact moment, I would be arriving to take her away for the rest of the summer. Have I missed anything?"

"Umm, yeah, Ron was floating, he was laughing rather hard and then he was just up in the air. We couldn't figure out how to get him down so I told him something that kind of shocked him and down, he came." Ginny said all this with out looking at anyone or pausing for breath.

"Ahh, I do not have a definite answer for you about what is happening, however I do have a theory, allow me to share it with you. It is I trust you all know, the thirty-first of July, and today marks the sixteenth birthday of both Harry and Neville, now it is common for extremely powerful wizards, to spend the first sixteen years of their lives only able to tap into a small percentage of their power, only enough power to allow them to be equal or marginally above their peers. So for these wizards the sixteenth birthday marks a right of passage and they gain the rest of their powers. The more new powers they are to gain, the longer it will take for them to manifest themselves. Now, I think I must pause here to point out that, you are each of you, extraordinarily powerful, there are maybe ten wizards in history that are stronger than you, or at least five of you." After this he paused for effect and all six of them held their breath hoping that they were not the one to be excluded. "Harry, you are the one that is not included in those five, now before you wonder, this is not because the others are more powerful than you, and it is in fact because you are much more powerful than them. It is a little early to say but I think, there maybe only two wizards in history more powerful than you."

At this point in his narrative the old man, paused and conjured a table, full of food, in the midst of the couches on which his students were perched. "I understand that you have not eaten yet, as you were supposed to have dinner at the party, but I have pressing business and may not be able to speak with you until your return to school, so Mrs. Weasley has agreed to move the celebration to tomorrow night. Where was I, yes, so we have established that you are all very powerful, to continue I believe that the reason that your powers all manifested themselves on the same day is because you have a deep emotional connection. Your experience in the Department has bound the six of you. I know this is a lot to process, so why don't we eat, and then I will do my best to answer your questions."

For the next several minutes the only sounds made in the room were the clinks of silverware against dishes. When they had all finished eating, Dumbledore vanished the table and sat back clearly prepared to answer their questions. The friends looked around the room nervously not sure where to begin. Finally, unable to bare the silence anymore Harry spoke, "What do we need to do to learn to control these powers; I mean we aren't even sure what they are?"

"Well the first step will be to identify them, to do this Professor McGonagall; will begin coming every afternoon to help you with this. As for controlling your powers, it should be easier, probably noticeably so, in the morning, today your bodies and minds were forced into a rapid adaptation so that they could accommodate these changes. I do believe that there are certain things that you can do to minimize the damage you cause over the next several days. First, I would try to remain in this room as much as possible, as there is little of great value, you should also try to avoid anything which would make you lose control either anger or hysterical laughter. Ginny, I suggest that when you can't avoid losing your temper you try to keep you hands by your sides, no one has been hurt yet and we would like to keep it that way."

"Sir," Neville began unused to addressing the headmaster, "how was I able to heal Trevor, he was dead wasn't he?"

"No, Neville, he was not dead. If he had been you would not have been able to help him, your toad was barley clinging to life when you found him, I dare say if you had been any later than you were getting to him, he would be dead."

"Professor, I saw Trelawney make a prediction in my third year, she did not remember it, didn't even know she had made a prediction, how is it Luna was able to remember her prediction." Harry asked.

"It would seem that however much Professor Trelawney wishes to be a great seer, she possesses very little inner sight, thus when she does make a real prediction, she is acting as a medium for a higher power. Miss. Lovegood's power is extremely great, and that same higher power shows them much like a muggle motion picture to her, she is able to and pass them on as she sees fit."

"The light, I suppose is the best way to describe it, around everyone, what does it mean, I know that it changes but what does it mean exactly?"

"Can you tell me how many types of light you are seeing, Hermione?"

She appeared to think for several seconds before responding, "Three, sir. One seems to be constantly changing, another has altered greatly in Harry, Ginny and Ron through out the day, it has also altered in Neville and Luna significantly since they have been here, but I noticed that in you, Mrs. Weasley, and the twins that it is nearly as stable as the first light and the third light is changing constantly, sometimes it changes so quickly that I do not even register a color before it is gone."

"That is indeed a most extraordinary gift, most wizards and witches can only see one of the colors, have in fact only met two who could see two colors, but never anyone other than myself who could see all three bands. The bands represent power, emotion and personality. The easiest band to detected is the emotional one, this is the one that constantly fluxgates, with practice you will learn which colors represent which emotions. The next band is the power band this one changes considerably during early life and then levels off, you have indeed noticed that, in everyone around you, and have observed the powers of your friends growing today, when you return to school you will see power growing in the students. Most people continue to gain power until they are out of school. The third band and I have never known anyone else, who could see it, will tell you about personality, with practice you will be able to identify what traits drive a person."

"So, instead of having Professor McGonagall come to find out what powers we have can you just look at our power bands?"

"No, actually you can not just determine powers using that band, in wizards personality also reflects which power we have, so you must compare personality bands and the power bands. And the colors in your power bands have not set themselves yet. Also, it is unusual for personality bands to be completely set in ones, so young as yourselves, still I must admit your personality bands have not changed much since you entered Hogwarts."

Ginny was the next to speak, "Am I just doing wandless magic? I mean is that how I blew-up the cupboard?"

"No, actually a blasting spell should not be nearly so easy with wandless magic. I think that you have developed a different power, it is very old and only manifests itself in witches, and there are several books that could explain it better than I can. Now, it is late, and I must be off." He waved his wand several times, producing a door and a stack of blankets. "That door leads into a bathroom, which you may use so you do not have to leave this room, I will have Molly bring up your meals."

With that the old wizard started toward the door, only to be stopped by the sound of Ginny's voice as she asked rather sheepishly, "Please, Professor before you go can you fix the legs on the two broken sofas?" Harry watched her face turn increasingly red a she spoke, and he realized just how in love with the girl he was.

The Headmaster nodded, waved his wand, and said, "I hope the rest of your summer is pleasant, and good night." He then turned and walked out the door leaving a group of stunned teenagers in his wake.


	8. The Prophecy

**Chapter 8: The Prophecy**

After several minutes of silence, Hermione rose from her seat and began to pass out blankets, through an unspoken agreement they lay down to sleep content to discuss these events in the morning. They were all fast asleep half an hour later when Mrs. Weasley looked in to check on them.

Harry awoke several hours later to find that it was still dark; looking around to see what woke him. Straining his ears heard Hermione crying faintly into her pillow. He moved silently over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, "'Mione, it's going to be alright, I'm here for you if you need me." She sat up and hugged him, and they sat there clinging to each other, Hermione crying into his shoulder, when she fell asleep Harry shifted her so that her head rested on his shoulder and allowed her to sleep on, he then drifted off to sleep.

They awoke the next morning to find the other four staring at them, Ron and Ginny both had a sickly green tint. Neville and Luna looked seemed amused by the looks on the Weasleys' faces. "Morning," Harry mumbled, shifting slightly and groaning at the stiffness in his muscles. He reached out to the table next to him to grab his glasses, they weren't there. "Anybody seen my glasses?"

"Umm…Harry, mate your wearing your glasses," Ron informed him, looking a little concerned.

Harry reached up to his face and sure enough he had his glasses on, he pulled them off, "Whoa," he could see, clearly, "I can see, without my glasses, although you do all seem to be glowing. Ron is sort of light blue, with traces of purple and green. And Ginny is…"

Harry was cut off, as Hermione squealed and threw her arms around his neck. "Harry, do you know what you are doing? You're seeing their auras! Those are the emotions bands, can you see the others?"

Harry eased her away from him, and gazed at Ginny; her aura turned slightly pink before he mentally pushed it away, bringing forward a new type of light, this light was stable and consisted strictly of one color, he looked from Ginny to the others, and sure enough they each had one color of light. Once again he forced this away saw another band of light, this one was the most beautiful of all, it seemed to combine multiple colors for light without them actually being separated, the color more than anything seemed to feel different, and the light was actually a halo, which seemed to posses no color. "Yeah, I can see all three of them."

"Wow, that's cool, do you think we will all be able to see auras?"

They all paused to think for a moment, before Hermione answered his question. "I suppose it is possible but, I would not hold out much hope, I mean after all Dumbledore said that Harry is much more powerful than the rest of us."

They all turned to door as Mrs. Weasley came bustling in carrying a tray, "Good Morning, dears, I brought you some breakfast, I wasn't sure what Neville and Luna liked so I brought some of everything. Can I get you anything else, from any part of the house? I know Professor Dumbledore has asked you to say in here."

"Yes, Mrs. Weasley, I think we would all like some clean cloths, and there is a book in the Library that I would like on aura reading, please."

"Of course, dear, I will bring those things right back for you." And as she walked back out the down, the all sat down to eat the feast that she had prepared for them.

"So, what powers do you think we all have?" asked Ron, through a mouth full of scrambled eggs.

"Well, so far you can levitate, Neville has the ability to heal without aid of potions or spells, Luna is a seer, Ginny can blast things wandlessly, with a level of power that no wizard I've heard of ever could, I can see auras, and it seems Harry can to, but he also appears to have some other powers that I can't identify."

"Seems odd though, I mean what do we need so much power for, okay so we tend to attract trouble but that still doesn't explain it," Ginny said all this while looking directly at Harry, as if she knew there was something that he had not told them.

Harry dropped his head into his hands and sighed, he remained like this as Mrs. Weasley brought in the things Hermione had requested and a few extra magazines. When she left he looked up at them all, a little uncertain of how he should proceed. He took a deep breath and began, "You all know that the thing Voldemort wanted from the Department of Mysteries was a prophecy, and you all know that the prophecy was smashed and no one heard it." He looked up at them and they nodded their confirmation, "The part you don't know is that, some one did hear that prophecy, but not that night in the Ministry. Professor Dumbledore heard the prophecy when it was made. I think the prophecy maybe part of the reason we are so powerful, I think it may be fate's way of giving the world a chance. So here it goes, '_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…and the Dark Lord will mark him as an equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not…and either must die at the hands of the other for neither can live while the other survives…the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…' _So you see why, we may need to have extra power, I can't do it without you guys."

"Well be there for you mate, but can I ask you what 'the power the Dark Lord knows not' is supposed to be?"

"It's love, Ron, Harry's ability and capacity to love." Hermione said looking at him piteously. "He's right though, we will be right beside you; you're my brother Harry I couldn't leave you to face something like that alone." Harry looked up at her and beamed at her words.

Neville was sitting up ramrod straight, looking like he would be sick, "I was…it said…it could have been me…we even have the same birthday," he said in a high-pitched voice. Then he shook himself cleared his throat, and said "You can count on me, I'll be there, because I know you would have been if I were the one."

"You can always count on me Harry, you're my friend and I will always be there to help you." Harry's heart fell as Ginny spoke, he never would have thought those words could hurt so much, 'you're my friend.' They all looked toward Luna.

"Absolutely, I'll be there, have to keep the world safe for the Crumpled Horn Snorkack." Hermione rolled her eyes but, decided it was not the time to argue with the Ravenclaw girl.

"Thank you, all of you, for your support, I could not ask for a better group of friends," Harry said fighting back tears, at their loyalty and belief in him. They all looked so confident in him, not even wondering as he did if he would really be able to defeat Voldemort.

Sensing Harry's distress, Hermione quickly changed the subject, "Harry, you really should start looking through textbooks today. I am going to shower, and then I want to do some research on auras but after that if you need me to I will help you look." She said this in a brisk matter of fact tone, that reminded them all of Professor McGonagall. When she finished speaking she rose and headed for the door conjured the night before.

Neville and Luna turned to look at Harry, "Is she trying to get you to do Homework? I don't remember getting…" Neville asked looking at Harry with panic written on his face.

Harry chuckled a little, before clarifying, "No, we didn't have any homework, Professor Dumbledore has asked that I teach Defense Against the Dark Arts this year."

"Awesome, Harry, I learned more from you in the DA, than form any of our Defense professors, even Professor Lupin…"

"I am sorry that, I could not be of more assistance Neville," Remus teased the boy as he entered the room. Neville looked like he would die of embarrassment, and accidentally fell of off his seat. "It's alright Mr. Longbottom, it is good to hear that Harry will be so successful in educating the students."

"Remus," Harry greeted him, jumping to his feet and catching him in a hug, "where have you been, we have been in here for two days, and a visit from a Marauder would have done us wonders."

As the two broke apart, Hermione stepped out of the bathroom, hair still wet, dressed in clean cloths, "Remus," she gasped hurrying over and giving him a hug, "it is so good to see you, I was just wondering when you planned to come visit, the Grimmauld Place Quarantine Ward."

"Surely, it is not so bad, but actually I was afraid that I would be blown to bits." Temper rose in Ginny, and Ron lapsed into a fit of giggle and started to leave the floor again, he began to panic until he looked and saw Harry, even higher off the floor than himself. "Boys, clear your minds and picture yourself slowly descending back to the floor." They both did as they were told and Harry descended gently back down and landed on his feet, there was a loud thump and they knew Ron had not had as much luck. Ron quickly got to his feet his ears turning bright red.

"I actually came to say good bye, I have to go away for awhile on Order business, but I should be back in time to see you two to the school train. Also Hermione, I spoke with you parents lawyer and you have been placed under my care until you come of age also we have arranged to have all of their assets converted to galleons and placed in a Gringotts account. I'm sorry to bring this up but I felt you needed to know." With that he pulled Harry and Hermione into another hug. When he released them he headed towards the door, calling over his shoulder, "See the rest of you when it is time to go to the train."

"See ya, Professor."

"Stay safe."

"Watch out for heliopaths."

"Sorry and good bye."

The rest of the morning passed peacefully. Luna and Ginny passed the time reading Teen Witch Weekly, and gossiping about their classmates. Neville and Ron played chess and Harry and Hermione each took up a book to begin there research. The next time they looked up it was to see Mrs. Weasley bringing lunch into them; Harry glance at his watch and was shocked to discover that it was nearly one o'clock.

"You will need to eat quickly; Professor McGonagall will be here to see you in half an hour. How was your morning? Did Remus stop in to say good bye?"

"Yes, Mum he did, and we have had a good morning, thank you for bringing us lunch," Ginny said before taking a plate of food.

"I'm glad; I'll just be in the kitchen; call me if you need me."

They ate in silence, wondering how their teacher planned to determine what powers they possessed. As Harry looked around the room, at the nervous faces of his friends, he was reminded of his arrival at Hogwarts. He remembered standing in the entrance hall staring at the doors to the Great Hall and wondering what awful test would determine their school houses. Harry could not help but laugh; the incredulous looks on his friends' faces only made him laugh even more. "Sorry, guys it's just that this reminded me of our first day at Hogwarts, do you remember? We were all standing in the entrance hall, and everybody looked so terrified not knowing what the ceremony would be." At that the others began to laugh as well and the mood in the room increased greatly. They talked about the coming year, about what classes would be like, who the new care of magical creatures instructor would be, then the topic changed to Quidditch, and who the new Gryffindor team would be. Neville surprised them all when he mentioned that he would be trying out as a chaser, since he knew there were three open spots, he had been training all summer until Dumbledore came to collect him. After this announcement the door opened and in walked their Transfiguration Professor.


	9. McGonagall Comes to Call

**Chapter 9: McGonagall Comes to Call**

"Good afternoon, you will forgive my tardiness, please."

"Good afternoon, professor, and of course we forgive you, actually we were so caught up in planning to keep the Quidditch cup in your office that we forgot that we did not even notice," Harry said a smile apparent in his voice.

The professor raised and eyebrow, "Even Miss. Lovegood."

"Yes, ma'am, better Gryffindor than Slytherin," she replied dreamily.

"Ah, yes let's get started shall we, I will be taking you all one at a time and putting you into a very deep trance, while I am doing the others must remain quiet, then I will ask you a series of questions. Any questions?" They all shook their hands at once, that they did not have any questions. "Good, I will write down your powers and we will all discuss them, once everyone is done. Mr. Potter, you shall go first, I think. Now, lie down on that sofa, and listen to the sound of my voice…" The others moved to the far side of the room, and resumed reading, feeling that whatever questions that McGonagall planned to ask Harry's answers were none of their business any way. They continued to read as Hermione, Ron, Neville, Luna, and finally Ginny had their turns. After she finished questioning Ginny, she sat for several minutes reviewing the notes she had made.

"Right, I think I have a pretty good idea of the powers you each have. Now, to start it seems you all are animagi, and it's hard to tell but I think I have figured out what they are. Ginny you are a fox, Hermione you are a hawk, Ron is a dog, a Golden Retriever to be exact, Neville is a duck, and Luna is a Lemur. Finally, Harry you have not one but four animagus forms, a ferret, a wolf, a panther and most impressively a Phoenix, it is very rare indeed for an animagus to turn into a magical creature. I would suggest you use some of your free time, to begin practicing your transformations, as the Ministry can not detect that type of magic. Let's see, oh, yes Mr. Potter and Mrs. Granger are able to see and read auras, but I dare say you already new that. Mr. Weasley and Harry are both able to levitate at will; you can do this without a wand or even a spell, and for longer periods without being drained as most wizards would be. Next, Ms. Weasley you have your blasting power, which has no formal title, this is a power only found in women, but I also discovered in you another power which is indeed very rare, it seems that you are a parselmouth. Mr. Longbottom and Mr. Potter you each seem to have advanced healing ability, although Harry I think that you will find you are only able to heal yourself and minor injuries in others, while Neville you will be able to heal most injuries, in both your self and others. Ms. Lovegood as you have already been told, you are a seer, and a most powerful one at that. Now, for the powers exclusive to Mr. Potter, you have the ability to teleport, you are a metamorphagus, although it seems this power is limited in a way which will prevent you from hiding your scar. You also are able to move much quicker than the average wizard, so fast in fact it will seem like time has slowed down around you; you are an elemental, able to control the weather, you are also able to become invisible without the use of spells, something not even the headmaster can do, and have uncharted ability to conjure, if you wished to you could conjure a castle twice the size of Hogwarts and it would hardly use any of your magic. That is the extent the powers that are rare, but you all seem to have extremely high ability to perform normal spells, and a high aptitude toward wandless magic. What do you say we have, a cup of tea, before I am off."

With that she conjured a tea tray and set to serving the group. They sat drinking their tea and the conversation once again turned to Quidditch, Professor McGonagall knowing that this was the young people's way of letting themselves adjust to what she had told them looked on and smiled. After the tea was gone she bid them all good evening, and before she even closed the door she heard them start asking the questions that were building up in their minds.

"Aren't animagi supposed to be really rare? I mean, what are the odds that all six of us have that power?" Ron said looking around the room almost frantically.

"They are really rare Ron, but that is not nearly the most impressive of all, I mean nobody has had Ginny's blasting power in over a thousand years and you remember what Dumbledore said about aura readers. Not to mention the level of power behind Luna and Neville's gifts, only the most powerful of seers are able to remember their prophecies and if Neville healed Trevor after he was hit by the Knight Bus, and he made an immediate full recovery. I mean even Professor Dumbledore doesn't have some of these powers." Hermione's eyes were growing wider and wider as she considered all of the research she would need to do. "Harry, what do you know about elementals?"

"Uhh, not much I guess, just what the Professor said about them being able to control the weather."

"It's actually much more than that, a true elemental, controls the four elementals of nature, earth, fire, water and wind. I mean yes they can control the weather, but they would also have the power to create or stop natural disasters. The last know elemental wizard was Merlin."

"Wow, mate, that's cool."

"Yeah, but couldn't I mess up the natural cycles of the earth, if I start altering things?" Harry looked over at Hermione, and waited for an answer.

"It is possible, I don't think causing say a thunder storm to start or stop could make to much of a difference, or even a minor earthquake, but if you were going to do anything major you might want to think really carefully first."

"Okay, sounds good, I don't think I want to cause any natural disasters, anyhow. So do you think you can look up what the colors of auras mean?"

"I already found the answers to that question," she said as she began to flip through a book. "I wish I could watch the auras all the time but it gives me a headache," she said in a voice nearly as dreamy as Luna's. "Oh, here it is," she said and then handed Harry the open book.

Harry looked down at the book to find two charts, he glanced over them and then took up a parchment and quill to copy them down into list that he could carry with him.

_Color………………………………Emotion……………………………Personality_

_Light Blue…………………confused…………………………loyal_

_Yellow……………………………happy…………………………………having good humor_

_Pink…………………………………embarrassed…………………loving_

_Green………………………………jealous……………………………conceded_

_Blood Red……………………mad………………………………………mean-spirited, evil_

_Grey…………………………………alone…………………………………lonely_

_Deep Blue……………………thoughtful……………………independent_

_Warm Red………………………tired…………………………………protective, dependable_

_Orange……………………………excited……………………………clingy_

_Purple……………………………scared………………………………uncertain, doubts self_

_White………………………………content……….…………………wisdom_

_Dark Green…………………greedy………………………………greedy_

_Burgundy………………………betrayed…………………………power hungry_

_Gold…………………………………love……………………………………puts others before self_

_Silver………………………….amused………….…………………mischievous_

_Teal………………………………annoyed………………………………sly_

_Brown………………………….sad…………………………………………dishonest_

_Power, (bottom of chart represents lower power levels)_

_Emerald Green_

_Pale Greens_

_Light Blues_

_Blue_

_Dark Blues_

_Purples_

_Dark Red_

_Red_

_Pale Reds/Pinks_

_Dark Oranges_

_Oranges_

_Pale Oranges_

_Dark Yellows_

_Yellow_

_Pale Yellows_

_White_

_all squibs posses a white power band_

"So, that's what they mean, hey would you guys let us practice, by reading your auras? I'll do the girls including Hermione, and she can do all of the boys including me." They all quickly agreed, anxious to find out what their aura's said about them. Harry handed the book back to Hermione and they got to work, putting their findings into a table for easy reference.

"Okay," Hermione explained when they were finished, "we have written the list starting with the most powerful, and going in descending order from their, the first color listed is the one corresponding to power, from there we listed the colors found in the personality aura starting with the color that is most prevalent."

_Harry Emerald Green gold, warm red, light blue, pink, deep blue, white, silver, yellow, teal, grey_

_Ginny True Green pink, gold, warn red, yellow, deep blue, light blue, silver, teal, white_

_Hermione Lime Green white, pink, light blue, gold, deep blue, warm red, yellow, teal, silver_

_Ron Lime Green light blue, warm red, pink, deep blue, gold, yellow, white, silver_

_Luna Aqua Green deep blue, white, pink, light blue, warm red, gold, teal, yellow_

_Neville Aqua Green light blue, pink, warm red, white, gold, yellow, deep blue, purple_

"We listed them this way because I think that, Hermione and Luna Have slightly darker colors than Ron and Neville, but those were the closest words to describe their colors, so any questions?" Harry said glancing to his friends.

"Yeah, I have one," Ron said, a slightly evil look on his face, "did either of you happen to see what color power aura the twins have?"

Harry coughed trying to cover a laugh, before replying, "No I didn't, I haven't seen them, since I discovered I could see auras…" he looked at Hermione.

"Sorry, Ron I didn't catch it, but next time, we see them we will look."

There was a loud crack and the twins appeared sitting next to Neville, who was so startled he nearly fell on the floor. "Good evening children, how are things in the playpen?" George looked like he was trying to irritate Ron as he said this; Harry could see this was working as Ron's emotion band began to turn slightly teal. He quickly turned his gaze to the twins, looking to see how powerful they were.

Harry quickly turned back to Ron, "Hey, you know that question you asked a minute ago, well the answer is Burgundy."

Ron gave a whoop, jumped up and clicked his heels together, and started dancing around the room. As he passed Hermione he pulled her up for her chair, his exuberance seemed contagious as she joined him, a wide smile spreading across her face. Harry watched them switching his view to see their emotions; they were a strange mix of yellow and pink. Suddenly they stopped and Ron whispered something in her ear, Hermione shrieked and threw her hands around his neck, knocking them both to the floor. "So I guess that's a yes then?" Ron asked his face turning as pink as his aura.

"Of course it's a yes you dunce," she said her voice full of laughter. "Do you have any idea how long I have been waiting for you to ask me out?"

"Aww, ickle Ronniekins has got a girlfriend," Fred commented with a sneer to rival Snape's. Then he dropped the sneer, and turned to Harry, "What's this about burgundy? Is Ron getting his Christmas sweater early this year?"

Harry shook his head and handed the twins the charts they had made, "We have been studying our auras, as Hermione and I can both read them and the burgundy refers to your level of power."

Fred looked amused, "So what, Ron is happy we are just a little more powerful than him, then?"

"Why don't you look for yourselves, it's this chart," he said leaning over to indicate the one he meant, "Ron, has a lime green power band."

The twins glanced at the chart up at their brother, and laughed, "Well, that maybe but, we can still beat his sorry ass, at Quidditch," when George finished speaking, they disapparated leaving the pages they held to go fluttering through the air.

They gathered up the papers and sat down to enjoy some quiet conversation. They talked for about an hour and then as topics ran short the decided to begin practicing their animagus transformations.


	10. Platform Nine and ThreeQuarters

**Chapter 10: Platform Nine and Three-quarters**

The rest of summer passed quickly, they spent their mornings studying the various book Hermione recommended to learn more about their powers and the afternoons were spent with the room in various states of chaos as the practiced their transformations. By the night before their return to Hogwarts they had all mastered this skill, and Harry could switch directly from one to another without returning to his human form. True to his word, Remus had returned earlier that day and would be among the guard on the way to King's Crossing.

The next morning, they were in a rush, as usual, trying to get out the door and to the train in time. They were to take muggle taxis and had to be waiting outside before they arrived in order to avoid unwanted questions. They were to be accompanied by Bill, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, the twins and Tonks, who was today sporting a head of Weasley red hair and a host of freckles, in the hope of looking like a cousin to any causal observer. Mad-eye Moody and Kingsley Shacklebolt were also accompanying them, but they were under the cover of invisibility cloaks.

When they arrived at the station they hurried through the station and proceeded carefully onto the platform so as to avoid attracting to much attention. There were very few people left on the platform, so they said hasty good byes and then right before they stepped onto the train, thirty Death Eaters appeared on the platform and began firing curses at everyone still not on the train. Mrs. Weasley shoved them all toward the train with one hand and started firing curses at the Death Eaters. Harry helped the others onto the train, and was about to step onto the train when he saw Draco Malfoy lying on the ground bleeding, a Death Eater stood over him laughing, and then pointed a wand at him, and yelled '_Crucio'. _Harry turned around and crossed the platform, ignoring the protests of his friends; he pulled out his wand and shot a curse at the Death Eaters back. His victim fell to the ground stunned, Harry took the last few steps to Malfoy's side at a run, pulling the blond boy to his feet, "Come on, let's get on the train," he hissed, and they ran to the train, Harry half-carrying Malfoy, as they reached the side of the train as it began to pull away, Ron reached out and grabbed hold of Malfoy pulling him onto the train. But the train was moving too fast, Harry was falling behind, suddenly a burst of magic ran through him and he ran several steps barely having time to register that he was moving faster than the train, caught up and pulled himself onto the train.

When he got on to the train he looked over at Malfoy, and saw that the other boy was barely clinging to consciousness, he had been badly injured before he ran for the train, and the dash had only made his injuries worse. Harry quickly surveyed his wounds, there was a gash across down Malfoy's left leg, his nose was broken and judging from the amount of blood in his hair, the cut on his scalp was serious. Harry looked at the others, "He is injured pretty badly, I don't think I can heal him, is there anyway to get word to Madame Pomphrey?"

"Harry, I don't think there is time for that, we could send an owl but that might not reach her in time," said Hermione.

Neville took a deep breath, "I can heal him let me do it."

Harry gave him a questioning look, "Are you sure, Neville, I would never ask that of you."

"Yes, I'm sure." Neville approached the Slytherin as if he had the plague; even though he had agreed to help it was plain to see he was terrified of the other boy.

Harry said a quick prayer of thanks that Malfoy was to weak to talk. The group gathered around Neville and Malfoy, watching them apprehensively. Neville placed one hand on Malfoy's arm and closed his eye, concentrating, several seconds passed and there was a collective in take of breath Neville opened his eyes and looked at Malfoy, all of his injuries had been healed. Malfoy threw off Neville's hand and jumped to his feet and stalked off, without a word of thanks. Curious as to how the other boy was feeling, Harry took a quick glance at his aura as he disappear into the prefects compartment, he saw a swirl of grey, light blue, blood red and purple.

"Come on," said Harry, "no sense, in hanging around out here; Ron, Hermione we'll save you all seats." He started off down the hall followed by Neville and Luna, noticing Ginny standing uncertainly in the hall he called back to her, "You comin' Gin?"

"Ummm…actually I was gonna go find Dean, but maybe I will stop in later."

His heart stopped beating, hardly trusting himself to speak he managed to say, "Yeah, good," although his voice sounded abnormally deep. A strange look crossed Ginny's face as he turned away but, he ignored it and hurried off to an empty compartment.

They put away their trunks, and sat down, they sat in awkward silence, until Harry desperate for something to talk about said, "That was a great thing you did Neville, everybody knows Malfoy has never done anything to deserve your help."

"Thanks Harry, but I didn't do it for Malfoy's sake, I did it because it was important to you."

"Well, all the same, it was really good of you, you saved his life."

"Yes, let's just hope we don't regret it. Fancy a game of chess?" With that Neville pulled out his chess board.

Harry lost spectacularly, even faster than usual, as his thoughts were on the red head he could hear laughter in the next compartment. It seemed so odd being on the train without Ginny, she had ridden with them for the past three years, it hurt even more knowing that she wasn't there because she was with her boyfriend, her boyfriend who wasn't Harry. Neville seemed to understand that Harry would not be able to concentrate on a second game and told Harry that he did not feel up to another round. Harry turned back to listen to Ginny, and Neville and Luna began to talk about her excursion to find a Crumpled Horn-Snorkack.

The group stayed that way until Ron's voice cut through Harry' thoughts, "Oi, Harry where are you?"

Harry strode across the compartment and threw open the door, unfortunately Ron was a little closer than he had originally thought, and as he opened the door, Ron was about to open it from the other side, the sudden disappearance of the sliding door caused Ron to over-balance and he fell face first onto the floor there was a sickening crunching sound and when Ron rolled over his nose, was bleeding profusely. "Bloody 'ell," he shouted.

"Ron, we are _prefects_!" Hermione admonished.

"I don't care, I just broke my bloody nose."

Luna looked at him for a moment and then asked, in her usual dreamy voice, "Oh, was it bloody before you broke it?"

Ron looked at her murderously, and started to get up, until Harry pushed him back down and healed his nose. "Sorry, mate, I didn't think you were that close by," Harry said looking apologetic.

"No big deal, it's alright."

They spent the rest of the day talking, playing chess, and reading; Harry found that he was able to push Ginny to the back of his mind. He was almost disappointed when the train stopped. They gathered their things and headed out of the train to get to the carriages, only as they stepped out of the train that they would not hear the usual call of 'first years, over hear' not his year or the next, Hagrid was gone to Hogwarts.

He was so caught up in his thoughts that he almost did not notice Ron stop and look at him, slightly confused. He turned to his friend, "What's up?"

"Listen, I know that voice, who is it?"

Harry tilted his head to better hear the voice in question, and sure enough it did sound familiar.

"Oi, first years, this way to the boats." They turned and looked at their new Care of Magical Creatures, Professor and they all dropped their things in unison.


	11. The Sorting

**Chapter 11: The Sorting**

"Charlie! What are you doing here," Ron shouted above the noise on the platform.

"That's Professor Weasley to you, sir," the older Weasley said, "I'll be teaching Care of Magical Creatures this term, in Professor Hagrid's stead. Move along, I'll see you up at the castle."

They gathered their things and hurried to get one of the still unoccupied carriages. Harry's heart leapt for joy as Ginny climbed, not into Dean's carriage, but into the one they had just entered. She was breathless and Harry figured she must have pushed her way past most of the students in order to reach them. She slammed the door closed to deter anyone who might try to join them, and immediately started talking, "Can you believe it? Why didn't Charlie tell us? This is gonna be great!"

"Yeah, it really will! I can wait to see Charlie put Malfoy in his place, just picture his face!" Ron started giggling, and only stopped when Hermione pinched him, hard.

He gave her an affronted look, and she sighed, "I'm sorry, but I just don't think now is the time for you to go floating off to the ceiling." Ron looked like he was going to protest, but then shrugged it off, obviously deciding that she was right.

He perked up again after several seconds, "Hey this means we will be getting top marks in two classes this year!"

"Ron! Harry is not going to give you top marks just because you're his friend!" Hermione was looking daggers at both Harry and Ron, and Harry wondered if she had been taking lessons from Mrs. Weasley.

"Ah, come on Harry, tell her," Ron turned to his friend for support.

Harry just raised his eyebrows and glanced at Ron, skeptically. Ron's face fell some but, he still had one class in which he would be getting top marks, or so he thought.

Ginny was the next to speak, "Ron, do you really think that Charlie is going to give you top marks if you don't deserve them? I, mean, you'll be lucky if he doesn't tell Mum every time you misbehave."

At her words Ron's face fell entirely, before he shot back with a smirk, "You're one to talk you get into as much trouble as we do! And at least when we are breaking rules it is to save the school, at the very least!"

Ginny glowered but did not say anything. The carriage had stopped and they climbed out, and headed into the feast. As they sat down at the Gryffindor table, they heard muttering all along the about the lack of a Defense Professor. The five Gryffindor's from Grimmauld Place looked at each other and smirked.

Dean looked at Ginny and asked, "You don't think Dumbledore's gone and given the Defense job to Snape, do you?" Harry did not hear he response, as he was fuming inwardly, and thinking 'it would serve you right, you rotten, girl stealing…' Unfortunately, he failed to get in to a good mental rant as he realized that Dean had not stolen Ginny, in fact he had started dating Ginny before Harry was even interested. This thought however did nothing to calm Harry's anger, but McGonagall had just entered carrying the Sorting Hat and leading the terrified looking first years. McGonagall placed the stool before them, and the Hat began to sing.

_Every Year I sit before you and sing of the Houses four,_

_Great Gryffindor home of those daring and brave,_

_Renowned Ravenclaw where knowledge is King,_

_Shrewd Slytherin of those cunning and pure of blood,_

_Honored Hufflepuff for those pure of heart,_

_Into these Houses four do I divide you,_

_But I must caution you not to split our fair school in these dark days instead stand united,_

_And I must sort you anew,_

_For it is time for the Fifth House to rise,_

_This House in honor of Great Merlin himself,_

_Into this House be gathered those to lead the rest,_

_Those who honor all Houses best,_

_May they lead the rest onward in the light_

_So rise all to heed my call,_

_Are you to remain in the House where you now reside,_

_Or will the Wolf House call you forth and claim you._

A silence so pronounced fell over the Hall that almost no one even dared to breathe. There seemed to be a rush of air as all heads turned to the Headmaster. He rose slowly, and said, "An interesting turn of events, well everyone to the middle of the Hall, please, we will do as the Hat suggests." Dumbledore waved his wand clearing from the students' robes all traces of their current houses. "Don't fret, when you join a house your robes will take on their colors once again. Also as we do not know how many will be joining Merlin house I would ask that they come stand before the staff table."

When the Headmaster finished speaking, Professor McGonagall tapped her scroll with her wand and it became several times thicker. To Harry's right Ron let out a moan, "This is gonna take forever, when are we gonna get to eat." Harry laugh quietly but, quickly stifled it as McGonagall cleared her throat.

"Abbot, Hannah."

The sixth year girl approached the stool, sat and placed the hat on her head, she seemed greatly relieve when she was returned to Hufflepuff. The Sorting continued, each student being returned to their own House, and first years being divided among the original four houses, until Hermione Granger was called forward. She had barely lowered the Hat onto her head when it pronounced her a member of the Merlin House. She let out a small squeak, and moved to the front of the Hall.

The Sorting continued for some time, no one being sorted into the new House, until in rapid succession, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, and Draco Malfoy were called to join Hermione, who was by that time looking very nervous, at the front of the Hall. There was much whispering when Malfoy was sorted, could he really be one of the school's leaders?

The silenced deepened when Harry Potter, was called forward and the Hat remained on his head for longer then all of the previous students combined. Just when they began to fear that the Hat would never place Harry, it shouted "Head of Merlin House." No one applauded; no one spoke as Harry slowly joined his housemates. Hermione and Ginny both studied Harry's face noticing a strange weariness behind his eyes, masked by fierce determination and Draco seemed unusually pensive. But seconds later they all doubted that they had seen it at all, as Harry's face became the stone mask it always was. After Zabini, Blaise was resorted into Slytherin, there were eight standing at front, Harry and the others had been joined by the two youngest Weasleys and a fifth year girl, formerly in Hufflepuff, Tuesday Smith, ironically she was born on a Saturday. Tuesday was a petite girl with deep blue eyes, and long, wavy black hair which she wore pulled into a tight braid.

Dumbledore rose again and conjured an octagonal table in the center of the hall, he flicked his wand at the group in front of him and their robes changed to be a deep, royal purple with copper trim. "Please take your seats, after the feast I will show you to your new dormitory." Ron's stomach let out a loud growl which could be heard through out the hall, and a smiling Dumbledore continued, "I will save announcements for after the feast, as I dare say some of you are hungry. Tuck in!" As he sat back down food appeared on the tables, students began filling their plates, wondering about the new House and the whereabouts of their new Defense Professor. Harry noticed that none of the teachers seemed to be touching their food, and none of his housemates were talking, or eating with much appetite, except for Ron, who was shoveling food like there was no tomorrow. Harry took a moment to introduce himself to Tuesday before lapsing once again into silence.

When even Ron could not eat anymore, the plates cleared and the Headmaster rose once more to address them all. Harry's stomach filled with butterflies not even realizing he had been dreading this moment. "As always I would advise you to check the list in Mr. Filch's office, detailing all of the items which are banned in the corridors between classes, you should note that it has been expanded to include all products manufactured by Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. Magic is forbidden in the halls and the Forbidden Forest is just that, forbidden. Now I would like to introduce two new members of our staff, Professor Weasley will be taking Care of Magical Creatures, and…" he gave a dramatic pause, "Professor Harry Potter will be taking Defense Against the Dark Arts, as well as continuing his own studies." Dumbledore paused again, allowing the students time to gawk at Harry, and Harry time to enjoy the look on Snape's face. "The DA, will be reformed, as the Dueling Club, and will be led by Auror Tonks; it will only be open to students in years four, five, six and seven. You are dismissed first years; your house prefects will lead you to your dormitories. Good night, and welcome back."


	12. In The Wolf Den

**Chapter 12: In the Wolf Den**

The group in the middle of the hall remained seated, until the hall cleared, and then they rose and approached the head table. They waited patiently for Dumbledore to finish speaking to McGonagall, grouped closely together, with the exception of Malfoy who stood arms crossed off to the side, Harry glance at his emotion band briefly, it was warm red, grey, light blue and purple, he could empathize with the other boy's emotions it was how he had been made to feel everyday at the Dursley's. Dumbledore looked at them, a faint smile on his face, "Well, if you will follow me, we will let you get settled in," he gestured for them to come up the steps and lead them through a door to the left of the staff table. They walked up to two copper suits of armor with axes crossed protectively over a door, "Your common room and dorms are through here, and you will each have your own private bed chamber, bath and study, your password is 'Skiving Snackbox,' Harry I would like a word, the rest of you may go up, your things have been placed in your assigned room."

Harry and Dumbledore waited for the door to close behind the others, and then sat down in a pair of chairs the older wizard conjured. Harry looked at Dumbledore expectantly, "Did you know this would happen, sir?"

"I knew it to be a possibility, Harry."

"Why, did the color of our robes change?"

"The eight of you are the most powerful students in the school, and you have been set apart, and the other students must learn to follow you, this will be easier for them if they see you as different, from the average witch or wizard."

"It is late and I must get to bed, so I must ask you to do a few things for me, first you will need, as Head of House, to appoint two prefects and a Quidditch captain. I would also like to inform you that any detentions you assign as head of house or in your classroom are to be served under the supervision of Mr. Filch. Please make sure your house sits together and that no students from other Houses be allowed to join you. Also I would ask that you keep Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Weasley from killing each other."

Harry sighed, "Sir, I think that is the hardest task that I will ever be given, but I will do my best."

They were all sitting dumbfounded, staring at each other when Harry ascended the moving stair case, into the common room, he glanced around to find that it was far nicer than then Gryffindor or Slytherin common room, and doubted that it was merely from lack of use. He walked over to his stunned schoolmates and cleared his throat; they looked up at him, not as their Head of House or a Professor, but merely as someone who might help them make sense of what had happened. "I have several announcements, Ron and Hermione will be taking over prefect duties and Ginny will be Quidditch Captain. Also the Headmaster insists that meal times be spent exclusively with our House. Personally, I feel that it is time for me to retire."

Ron rose and Harry made to follow him up to their dorm, before Malfoy spoke behind, the first words Harry had heard him say all day, "Potter, you and I are over here." Harry nodded, turned and followed Malfoy through the door to their chambers. They walked into a small foyer, with a door on either side of it, Malfoy went through one and Harry turned to see his name on the other, he entered to find a large four poster bed, among other furnishings. There was a door on the opposite wall which he assumed led to his bathroom, and an archway which led to his study. Too tired to worry about anything else he flopped onto his bed and went to sleep.

Harry woke earlier than the others, he showered and dressed, than glancing at his clock he saw that it was still to early to go down to breakfast, he decided to explore his new surroundings. He left his room and the foyer as quietly as possible, so as not to disturb Malfoy. When He re-entered the common room he saw that it was a hexagon with two walls longer than the others, these walls housed the entrance and a massive pair of double doors. Each of the shorter walls housed a single door leading to what Harry presumed was a foyer much like the one between his room and Malfoy's. Between each pair of apartment doors, was a massive fireplace, one fireplace was surrounded by comfortable purple couches and chairs, while before the opposing fireplace was a large table with eight chairs perfect for studying as a group. The walls and carpet where a rich cream, which soften the deep purple.

Harry felt a pair of eyes on him as he examined the room; he turned to find Malfoy leaning against the door to their rooms watching him. They stood their maintaining eye contact until the girls came out of their rooms, admiring their new purple robes. Ron and Neville joined them seconds later and as a group they stepped onto the descending stairs.

As they rode down the stairs, more to make conversation than anything, Hermione said, "You know, muggles consider purple to be the color of royalty."

Then with no detectable emotion in his voice, Draco said, "So do wizards."

After a moments pause Luna said certainly, "The Royal House." They all reflected quietly on this as they descended the stairs into the Great Hall, trying to ignore the curious stairs they were being given.

Breakfast that morning was a subdued affair until Hedwig arrived, bringing Harry their schedules to hand out. As he looked at his own schedule Harry felt a momentary pang that he would not be able to attend lessons with Charlie but knew he had a full schedule teaching twelve classes and attending three N.E.W.T. level classes of his own. He then joined in the lively discussion about classes with Ron, Hermione, Ginny; Luna and Tuesday were discussing their summers and Neville was switching back and forth between the two groups. Malfoy, who was seated on Harry's left, would answer the questions Harry asked him and then retreat into his own thoughts refusing to be drawn into the conversation.


	13. Classes Begin

**Chapter 13: Classes Begin**

Harry's first class of the day was double Defense Against the Dark Arts; Harry had decided that the best way to start his classes would be to tell the students exactly what qualified him, for the position. He knew this would be emotionally draining for him but he was also very well aware of the fact that they would not be able to concentrate on lessons until their questions had been answered.

When it was time for lessons to begin, and Harry could stall no more he opened the door and let the excited first years in the room. "You may put your wands away, you won't need them today, but please come prepared to use them next class. Today I am going to tell you what has prepared me to be your professor and about why it is important that you learn what I have to teach you. I hope that none of you ever need to call on the knowledge that I hope to impart, but I want you to be prepared to defend yourself if necessary." Harry took a deep breath and began his tale, it took him the entire double period to describe the events that had honed his skills in the subject and that was without discussing the Triwizard tournament or the events inside the shrieking shack. They did not need to hear about his first meeting with his godfather and he did not think he could manage to tell the tale fourteen times anyway it was just too painful.

Harry almost wished after that first lesson that he had not agreed to teach the class at all, almost, but not quite he new deep down that this was what he was meant to do. If he made it through this war, he would not want, as he and Ron had often discussed, be an auror, he would be ready to stop fighting and see the happier side of life, see people growing and learning, Harry knew that Hogwarts was where he was meant to live out his days. But still, his friends would be having their morning break now, having just finished Care of Magical Creatures and Harry did not have a break until lunch, he had two more sessions of Defense classes before than, first he had his seventh year N.E.W.T. class, and then the Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Merlin fifth years, and they were preparing for O.W.L.s. He suppressed a groan, and let in the seventh years, the N.E.W.T. classes combined all of the houses into one class, so it cut down on the number of classes Harry had to teach a little and for that he was grateful.

By the time Harry let the fifth years into his room he was not sure he could tell the story again, but Ginny caught his eye and gave him a quick smile and he felt like he could do anything, and he launched into the story one more time knowing that when it was over he would be able to walk down to lunch with Ginny, Luna, and Tuesday.

When the bell rang Harry dismissed his class and sank down into his chair, exhausted, he closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, feeling slightly better he opened his eyes to find the girls waiting for him. He flashed them a smile as he got to his feet, "Let's go get some lunch." They all murmured their consent and set off. When they entered the corridor they found it deserted, all of the other students having hurried to the great hall.

Not concerned about a lack of food at their table, because Ron had to walk in from the Greenhouses, they walked slowly. As they approached the steps in the Entrance Hall Tuesday turned to Harry and said, "I really admire you for allowing others to benefit from your misfortunes, even though it is clearly painful for you to relive those experiences." Ginny remained eerily quiet and Harry wondered how hearing about the Chamber of Secrets had affected her.

Feeling that now was not the time to ask her about it, he responded to Tuesday, "I could not think of a better way to make them understand just what Voldemort could do." He stopped talking as all three girls shuddered. They entered the Great Hall and walked over to their table, when they had finished filling their plates to see Ron and Hermione coming through the doors, Draco was no where to be seen.

Harry let them sit down and fill their plates before asking, "Where's Malfoy?"

Hermione glanced up and sighed, "He should be here soon, he fell behind on the way up. He seems to be having a tough day, though, all of the Slytherins are refusing to talk to him and I have heard rumors that they have been hexing him from behind."

"Well, that explains it then, I wondered how Goyle managed to pull off a perfect tripping jinx, but if he was aiming at Malfoy and not at Justin Finch-Fletchely…" Ron said through a particularly large mouth full. He swallowed and then continued, "But, it's _Malfoy_, he deserves it, the stupid git."

"Ron, no one deserves that," Hermione said quietly.

Harry rose intending to go find the other boy, but he was spared the trouble when Malfoy entered, hands shoved into his pockets and head bowed. Harry felt his heart lurch, but sat back down, not wanting to add to Draco's embarrassment. Harry tried even harder to include Draco in the conversation, than he had at breakfast, but was met with the same resistance. However, he could not help but notice in the few moments when the former Slytherin let his guard down that the blond-haired boy seemed to be waiting for them to crush what was left of his dignity. Harry decided not to push him and let Malfoy lapse once again into silence.

The rest of lunch passed to quickly, and the sixth years were soon headed to potions, as much as Harry wanted to avoid time in Snape's company he was glad to be headed down into the dungeons and not back up to his classroom, he was not anxious to repeat his saga again.

Snape's foul mood seemed to have increased ten fold. It seems that Harry becoming a Professor and Head of House was more than he could handle, and to make matters worse his favorite student was now in Harry's House. Snape watched Harry like a hawk, hoping he would mess up his Mandrake Draft; Harry ignored him as best he could and managed a prefect potion. Although he did come dangerously close to losing his temper with the Professor, when he vanished Malfoy's potion, claiming he had forgotten a vital ingredient, however Harry had seen the other boy add it.

The rest of their afternoon classes and dinner passed without incident and they found themselves headed up to the common room, as a group minus Ginny, who had gone to meet the, in Harry's opinion, rather slow, and obnoxious, not to mention ugly Dean. Harry flopped dejectedly into a chair by the fire, Malfoy stormed directly into his room slamming the door shut behind him, Ron and Hermione put their bags away and left to go for a walk around the lake, and the remaining two girls and Neville sat down at the table to begin studying. Harry sat and brooded for several minutes staring at the pair of double doors opposite the entrance, he suddenly remembered his plan to find out where they led.

Harry got to his feet and crossed the hall and threw them open. The doors swung open to reveal, another hexagonal chamber, this one much smaller than the common room. Each wall, housed one door, Harry turned to his right and opened the first door, his mouth dropped open as he stepped into an exact replica of the Library, the only thing missing was Madam Pince, he walked over to what was normally the restricted section of the library and pulled the book he recognized as containing to instructions to make the polyjuice potion. He braced himself, and opened the book, expecting it to begin screaming, but nothing happened, he relaxed and closed the book, returning it to its shelf. He could not wait to tell Hermione about this! He moved out of the library, and onto the next door, the huge room behind it was a muggle gymnasium, except that the machines did not plug into anything, Harry sat down to test one and found that they ran on their own, without any apparent source of power, he shrugged, stranger things had happened. He closed the door, and continued on to find a dark dungeon-like room, he looked around hoping to figure out what its purpose was, then he noticed the shelves of potions ingredients and several cauldrons on tables at the front of the room, well that could come in handy, they had their own potions labs, they could have used that in the past. He turned and walked out, wondering what could possibly be in the next two rooms, he opened up the next door to reveal a small windowless room, the walls were painted a pale, pale blue and seemed to be the source of the dim comforting light, in the room, in one corner there was a stack off thick cushions, just the right size for sitting on cross-legged, and practicing occlumency. Harry decided to find out what was behind the last door and then go get the others, and show them these rooms which seemed to be custom designed for them to train for the fight against Voldemort.

As Harry stepped in to the hexagonal hall way and then the flaw in his plan, Ron and Hermione had gone out for a walk, he had now way to know when they would be back and Ginny had gone with…no, he couldn't think about it. He strode to the next door and flung it open, it was the most impressive yet, the ceiling was a high as the Great Hall's, and the room itself was nearly twice its size, it was completely empty except for a red ring on the floor, leaving only four feet between the wall and the ring. Harry had never seen anything like this room before but, he knew instinctively what it was for. He stepped over the red line and into the dueling ring, just to test his theory he threw a curse across the ring, it disappeared when it reached the ring.

"Care to try it out, Potter?" Harry turned to see Malfoy framed in the doorway, and wondered how Draco had managed to enter the room without Harry noticing him.

"I don't have time for your games, Malfoy."

"Scared? I mean, you just might lose and then what would happen to the legend of the great Harry Potter."

"I just don't believe in preying on wizards who are less powerful."

"Just as well, now you can go dream about Weasley's sister."

"Alright, you want a duel, you got it."

Malfoy skirted the edge of the room and entered the ring directly across from Harry, they bowed to each other. Malfoy shot of a curse before Harry even managed to straighten all the way. Harry blocked it in the nick of time with a shield charm and immediately shot a bat boogey hex at his opponent, the blond boy dodged easily. They exchanged spells for twenty minutes before Malfoy managed to disarm Harry, immediately shooting a stunner in his direction, Harry dove out of the way, extended one hand toward Malfoy and shouted 'Expeliamus' and to their surprise both Draco and Harry's wands went soaring through the air, although they landed about half-way to Harry. Malfoy started running to retrieve his wand, Harry arm still raised shouted 'Petrificus Totalus,' and Malfoy went stiff as a board and toppled to the floor.

Harry got to his feet, retrieved the fallen wands, and walked over to the fallen boy; he preformed a quick counter curse and extended a hand to help Draco up, Harry tried not to let his surprise be to apparent when Draco took it and allowed Harry to help pull him to his feet. Harry handed Malfoy his wand back and they walked out of the training area and back to their dormitories in a companionable silence. Once they had shut the door to their foyer behind them Malfoy turned to Harry, "That was an impressive bit of magic in their, Potter. Who is teaching you wandless magic?"

"No one, that was the first time I ever did wandless magic intentionally, I was kinda surprised it worked."

"Well, I think I will have to challenge you to another duel when you have had a chance to practice more. Just promise you won't hold back any."

"You don't have to worry about that, you gave me a run for my money, which is not something I will take lightly." Harry turned to go into his room, but paused when he heard Draco speak again.

"I won't tell anyone about the Weasley girl if you don't tell anyone that you beat me in a duel."

Harry blushed and was glad he had not turned to face Malfoy, "You've got a deal."


	14. Happy Hunting and Nightmares

**Chapter 14: Happy Hunting and Nightmares**

Harry went into his study, he had work to do but first he needed to write to Remus; the werewolf had probably already heard about recent events at Hogwarts, but Harry still felt that he should write to tell him.

_Dear Moony,_

_Hope all is well. We have settled back into the routine of school, after a rather unusual start. The Sorting Hat decided to Re-Sort the entire school. Not too much changed, except that there is now a fifth house, the Merlin House. Our colors are purple and copper and our mascot is a wolf. But I am getting ahead of myself, so I will start from the beginning I will include the lyrics to the Hat's song on a separate parchment, which should help explain much of what has happened. Only eight students were sorted into the new house; the include Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Neville, Luna, a (former) Hufflepuff who is in her fifth year Tuesday Smith and myself. Now you may have noticed that that is only seven students, and I am sure you will be as surprised as we were by the eighth, it is none other that Draco Malfoy, former King of Slytherin. He has been completely abandoned by his former housemates though. I was at first reluctant to have anything to do with a house into which he was placed, but the Sorting Hat convinced me otherwise. Here is a copy of what the Hat said to me:_

Hello again Mr. Potter, you once again going to be quite a challenge for me to place. I stand by what I said your first year here, you would do very well in Slytherin, and you have proven yourself to be a true Gryffindor. I could place you in either of those houses, but there is another option this time. If you are up to the challenge I can place you in Merlin House. If I do that you will be facing quite a challenge, you will have to unite first your house and then the school. If you refuse this I am sure Mr. Malfoy will be happy to lead the House. Or I can make you the Head of House, and you can work to bring him to the side of the light, he has not yet made the choice to practice the dark arts, it is merely how he was raised. If you should manage to show him how much better life could be, and how good it would be to have true friends, he will be a powerful ally.

_Well, I am sure you have figured out how that conversation went, as I am in Merlin house. I have started teaching, and have found it to be draining but I suppose that is because I felt it was necessary to tell my students about my experiences against Voldemort. My first official acts as Head of House were to appoint Ron and Hermione as prefects and Ginny as Quidditch captain, oh yeah and to keep Ron and Malfoy from killing each other. Well, that about covers everything that has happened here, and it's late. Keep in touch and I am sure Hermione would love to hear from you._

_Your Favorite Nephew,_

_Harry_

Harry sealed the letter and put it into his book bag; he would try to find time to mail it in the morning. He quickly changed and climbed into bed. He fell asleep quickly and started to dream.

_Dobby was standing in front of him; the elf was dressed in one of Ron's Christmas sweaters and a safari hat. He notice that the elf had a quiver of arrows strapped to his back, and was holding a bow and arrow, ready it seemed to shoot._

"_Good evening, Harry Potter, sir, Dobby is going on a Dean hunt, sir." The dream Harry snickered, and the elf turned began creeping down the hall on his tip toes. Harry followed him quietly and they turned a corner, to find Dean and Ginny walking down the corridor before them hand in hand. Almost before Harry knew what was happening, Dobby let the arrow fly and it hit Dean in the left buttocks. Dean howled and then swore._

_Dobby walked slowly up to the couple, and sadly shook his head, "Dobby is sorry, sir, but not to sorry, for Dobby is most aggrieved for Harry Potter, sir."_

_Ginny's face went white, and she seemed to stop breathing, "Did something happen to Harry, Dobby?"_

"_Indeed, Ms. Wheezy, something most horrible happened to Harry Potter, sir. Ms. Wheezy, sir has broken his heart." Then he turned to Dean, "Nasty, filthy boy, stealing Ms. Wheezy from Harry Potter, sir."_

_Harry spoke for the first time, "Dobby, leave them alone…"_

_But he never finished speaking; Ginny looked up at him and their eyes met, she turned back to Dean and said, "I'm sorry Dean, but I love Harry." With that she ran to Harry and threw her arms around his neck._

Harry woke up, in the dark of his room, and he realized it had all been a dream, not that he wanted Dean to be shot with an arrow, well mostly he didn't. "Ginny," he whispered into the darkness, at that precise moment his door opened.

"Harry," he heard Ginny call uncertainly, "how did you know it was me?"

"Uh, lucky guess," he said, praising the darkness for covering his blush. "What are you doing in here?"

She avoided the question, "Right before I opened the door you were laughing, why?"

He thought desperately for anything to explain it, "I was dreaming that Dobby shot Snape in the posterior with an arrow." She let out a weak laugh, and Harry prompted her once again, "You didn't answer my question, whatever it is you can tell, me."

"I…I had a nightmare, I know its silly but…it seemed so real, I just couldn't be alone."

He climbed out of bed, "Come on in," he said. "And nightmares aren't silly, trust me I have had more than my fair share. Do you want to stay in here, for the rest of the night? You can take my bed, and I'll sleep on the couch." He gestured to the couch that sat at the foot of his bed.

"I wouldn't want to put you out…" she said, clearly wanting to accept his offer.

"It's no trouble really, and I know you would do the same for me were the situation reversed."

"Thank you," she said her voice just above a whisper. She climbed into the bed. Her last thoughts before she fell asleep were of how great Harry was and how much she wished that he loved her they way she loved him.

Harry decided to test his powers again and attempted to conjure some blankets, much to his relief, it worked on the first try and he lay down on the couch. He lay awake wondering why she had picked him, why not Ron or Hermione or even Luna; was this, a sign that she thought of him as more than a friend? No, it couldn't be, besides it didn't matter, she was with Dean. Still trying to make sense of it all he fell into a restless sleep.

When he awoke early that next morning, his back hurting from the night on the couch, he found Ginny still sleeping in his bed. She looked so peaceful that he was reluctant to wake her, but he knew things would be a lot easier, for both of them, if the others didn't find out, especially Ron. She thanked him again and hurried out of the room. He got ready and went out into the common room.

When he entered the common room he found Hermione sitting at the table, looking over her notes from the day before. Knowing he would only have a few minutes before the others joined them he walked over to her, "'Mione, I need to talk to you, can you come up with an excuse for us to go up to defense before Ron and Malfoy."

She nodded and looked like she was about to say something, but stopped as Ron's growling stomach announced his presence. The others came out of their rooms and the group went down to breakfast. They all sat themselves and were about to begin eating when Dean came over dragging a chair, "Good morning, Gin, I thought I would join you for breakfast."

Without looking up from his plate Harry said shortly, "Sorry, Dean, Headmasters orders, only Merlin House sits here."

Dean looked at Harry baffled, and said "Right, then I'll see you later, Ginny."

Harry saw Hermione give him a sympathetic look, out of the corner of his eye. He knew he had just come off as a real jerk, but he couldn't help it, it was hard enough to know that Ginny and Dean were together without having to see them together. They ate most of the group talking animatedly about their schedules for the day; Harry sat in stony silence, and Malfoy watched him with thoughtful expression on his face.

Shortly after, she finished eating Hermione turned to Harry, and said, "Harry, didn't you want me to go over your lesson plans for next week with you before class starts?"

"Yeah, yeah I did," with that they gathered their things and left the great Hall. They did not talk any until they were in the Defense room with the door closed.

"So, Harry did you what you wanted to talk to me about having anything to do with the way you snapped at Dean?"

He sighed and blurted out the whole story, telling her about his dream, which caused her to laugh until tears were streaming down her face, and then about Ginny coming into his room in the middle of the night, this managed to somber her up, as she tried to think of the explanation.

"Well," she began, in a halting tone, and sounding uncertain, "I guess she picked you because you were the one who saved her. If you managed to save her in real life, you should be able to protect her from the dream version."

"Right, that makes sense, thanks. Hey, did you by any chance go through the double doors in the common room, that are opposite the entrance?"

"No, I haven't had a chance."

So he told her about his duel with Malfoy, the meditation room, the potions room and the gym. She seemed only mildly interested in these things, so then will a sly look on his faced he told her about the library, he had never seen anyone look so happy, if she had been any happier, she probably would have floated off the floor even though she did not have any levitation powers.


	15. Sixth Year Defense Class

**Chapter 15: Sixth Years Defense Class**

Harry turned to Hermione, shifting from one foot to the other, "I just want you to know that I am really happy for you and Ron, even if it doesn't seem like I am, it is just hard to see couples together, when I know I can't be with Ginny."

Hermione laughed, "Yeah, yeah Professor, quit stalling and go let my classmates in. And by the way, we know you are happy for us, Ron thinks you are just weirded out by the idea of you best mate and your sister dating, he doesn't know how you feel about Ginny."

"Right well take your seat Ms. Granger it is time for class." Harry walked over to the door, and pulled it open, waiting in the corridor, were the other twelve N.E.W.T., sixth years. This group consisted of Ron, Dean, Seamus, Neville, Lavender, the Patil twins, Susan Bones, Justin Finch-Fletchely, Ernie MacMillian, Draco Malfoy, and Pansy Parkinson, much to everyone's disappointment, even Malfoy's it seemed. "Please take your seats; you will not need wands or quills today."

Seeing Hermione already in her seat Pansy smirked, "What's a matter Granger; Weasley isn't enough for you, so you're screwing Potter as well."

Harry saw the temper rising in both of his friends, and felt his fury building as well, so he said the first thing that came to mind, "Detention, Ms. Parkinson, for deliberately provoking another student." She turned and ugly shade of purple holding down her fury, but said nothing else.

Harry took a deep breath and sat down on his desk, "Some of you already know what I am about to tell you, I am sure you have all heard bits and pieces of the story at the very least but I would like for you to listen just the same. I am going to tell you about my experiences fighting against Voldemort." The entire room gasped, Harry rolled his eyes, "Tell me, how anyone is going to defeat him, if they are all afraid to say his name? You all had to know that I was about to say it, it's all over the school, 'first Defense class Harry Potter is telling us about all of the things he, that Weasley boy and Granger have done,' so why are you so surprised?"

"We'll we didn't think that you would just come out and say it plain as day," said Dean from his place at the back of the room.

"That's what I called him all last year in the DA." Harry ground his teeth, he could not fly off the handle at Dean, this was a class, and he was the Professor. "Now, if you are all finished with your ridiculous gasping, I'll continue," Oh, God! Even as he heard himself speaking, sounding almost a surly as Snape he could not stop. He closed his eyes for several seconds, trying to gain control over his temper. He took several deep breaths, in through the nose, out through the mouth, and started to speak. The words came pouring out, as he finished he was shocked that he had no one had interrupted, not Pansy, not Draco and not Dean which was fortunate because Harry probably would have cursed him into oblivion, and that would have been hard to explain.

As they sat staring at him he had a sudden idea, "I want a foot of parchment from each of you for next class. Your topic is the one reason you think Voldemort should be defeated, the one thing above all others that you want to see preserved."

"And what is _your_ reason," Pansy said with a sneer.

Harry sat for a minute thinking, staring over his steepled fingers, before he answered, in an even tone, "Love."

The sneer slowly evaporated off of her face and she seemed unsure of what to do next, she had not expected him to respond at all, much less with such honesty. Hermione leaned over to Ron and whispered, "He looks just like Dumbledore."

Harry jumped off the desk, "Right, well see you next lesson, bring your essays." He watched the Slytherin, Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaw, and Gryffindors depart, he turned back to his housemates, "So that went pretty well right?"

"Yes, it did, I thought you handled Pansy very well indeed." Hermione elbowed Ron in the ribs as she finished speaking.

"Yeah, mate, real good, but why'd ya give us homework? You didn't give Ginny's class homework."

Hermione glared daggers at her boyfriend, "Ron, Harry is our _Professor_, he can give us homework if he wants to, besides I think it's a great assignment, it will really make some people evaluate their actions."

"You mean people like me right, did you just forget I was here?" Malfoy accused her.

"Ummm…" Hermione looked unsure of how to respond, "No that's not what I meant at all."

"Sure Granger, I may not be top in every class but I am far from stupid," he stormed out of the class room.

"Stupid Prat, where does he come off talking to Hermione like that," Ron exclaimed.

"Ron," Harry said in a warning tone.

"He has no right to treat her that way! I ought to hex him."

"You'll do no such thing. His entire school life has been turned on its end, you can't expect him to just sit quietly and behave all the time. Imagine if you had been put into Slytherin, do you really think that you could just suddenly be like the other Slytherins! You couldn't so lay off!"

"I would _never _be put in Slytherin to begin with; I am not a death eater like him!"

"You don't know that he is a death eater! Just because he is a Slytherin does not make him evil…the Hat almost put me in Slytherin twice! Am I a death eater then, am I evil!" Neville squeaked and fell over onto the floor unconscious.

Hermione ran to his side, "Neville, are you okay?"

"Of course, he's not okay, Hermione, he passed out! Would you be okay if you passed out for no reason!"

"Oh, wake up, Ron he didn't pass out for no reason! He couldn't handle you and Harry fighting. If something could rip you two apart like that, how are the rest of us not supposed to feel like we could be next!"

They stared at her, "Hermione," Harry said unsteadily, "you are my sister, nothing is gonna make me leave you."

She started to cry, "I know Harry, but you two have been best friends for years, and now this whole mess, and I just…"

Harry pulled her into a hug, "'Mione just because we have a fight doesn't mean we aren't gonna be friends anymore. You know that, we have had fights before, remember."

"Yes, your right," she said, drying her tears, "let's wake Neville up and get to transfiguration.

The rest of the day dragged by, there was an unusual tension in the group, Ron and Harry seemed to have forgotten their argument but, it still loomed large in Neville and Hermione's minds. The other girls seemed to sense that something was wrong and remained unusually silent.

They all retired early that night Harry and Hermione were the last in the common room, Hermione kept glancing up at Harry nervously. After twenty minutes of this Harry could not take anymore, and he put down the book he was reading, "Hermione, why are you looking at me like I am a bomb that could explode any second?"

"I…I just…er…wanted to tell you that I agree with what you said to Ron today, we don't know that Malfoy is a death eater and we shouldn't treat him like one. But I'm not sure we should completely trust him either."

"I know what you mean, but still he doesn't deserve to be exiled."

"I know. Good night, Harry."

"Night, 'Mione."

"Harry? Don't tell Ron, 'kay?"

"I won't tell Ron, now go get some sleep."

"Yes, sir, and you too by the way."

He saluted her and gathered his stuff; they each headed toward their dormitories. Harry was slightly surprised to find Draco leaning against a wall in their foyer. He stopped and gave the other boy a curious look, "What can I do for you, Malfoy?"

"I want to know why you did it."

"Did what?"

"This morning when Weasley called me a prat, among other things, you defended me, why?"

"Because, I now what it is like to be judged, all last year the whole wizarding world thought that I was nuts, and I just wanted a chance to prove that I wasn't."

"Today wasn't the first time, though, at King's Cross, you could have left me, and you risked your own safety to come after me."

"That would be because I have what Hermione calls 'a saving people thing' I just can't leave others in danger, no matter who. I know we haven't always seen eye-to-eye, and maybe we never will, but I wouldn't leave anyone to be tortured by people like that."

Malfoy just nodded, "So you almost got sorted into Slytherin, huh?"

"Yep."

Sensing he would not get any more out of Harry, Draco turned to go into his room, he paused with the door open and his back to Harry, "Good night, Harry."

"Night, Draco."

Harry lay awake in bed later, wondering if he had done the right thing with Draco. He and Hermione had just agreed not to trust him fully and Harry had told him about his need to protect others no matter who they were. But these worries were only in his mind, in his heart he knew that he had done the right thing. Just before he drifted off to sleep Harry heard a timid knock on his door, "Come in," he called, no at all surprised when Ginny entered the room.

"Harry, I had another nightmare, can I sleep in here?"

"Yeah, come on in."


	16. Guilty Until Proven Innocent

**Chapter 16: Guilty Until Proven Innocent**

Ginny slept in Harry's room every night for the next week, and her nightmares showed no signs of stopping, she came into Harry's room without knocking now, he had started going to sleep on the couch so she could come in and climb into his bed without waking him. He felt slightly guilty about the situation in general; they were hiding this from everyone but Hermione, although Harry sometimes wondered if Draco knew, then there was the fact that Ginny had a boyfriend, that weren't doing anything but Harry doubted Dean would approve of the arrangement, and worst of all, Harry liked having her in his room every night, it didn't matter that she was only there because of her nightmares, he looked forward to her coming, to waking up to see her still sleeping peacefully. Harry worried some about what Ron would say if he found out but, not enough to tell Ginny not to come any more.

On Thursday night at dinner Ginny, asked the other members of Merlin House for their attention, "As you all, know I am Quidditch captain, so I was just wondering, who actually wants to be on the team, because pretty much the entire house is guaranteed a spot. McGonagall did say though, that we can still compete as long as we have at least one chaser, one beater, a seeker, and a keeper."

"Count me out, Gin, I do _not _fly for anything."

"I definitely want to play," Ron's statement was punctuated by a shower of mashed potatoes, causing every on else to wrinkle their noses in disgust.

"Yeah, sign me up, Gin," Harry said, thankfully he had no food in his mouth when he spoke.

"I would like to give it a try, I'm a pretty good flyer, although I have never tried Quidditch," Luna said.

"I was planning to try out, for the Hufflepuff team."

"I told you this summer I wanted to play."

"I would really like to play," Draco commented meekly.

"Well, that settles it then, everyone but Hermione wants to play. I have reserved the pitch for Saturday, so we will all try out several positions and see what works out best. I know we have at least two excellent seekers, Tuesday, what position did you want, just to get an idea of what we have to work with?"

"Well, Hufflepuff needed a new chaser so I was planning on trying for that, but I really want to be a beater."

"Luna?"

"Beater, definitely a beater that always looked fun when your brothers were playing there."

"How about you, Nev?"

"Chaser, I wouldn't have a chance as seeker, and I don't want to be a beater."

"Okay, well, I'll work out a couple of different line ups and we'll see what works, I guess mostly, it comes down to who is a better chaser, Harry or Draco."

Harry was surprised to hear Ginny, call Malfoy by his first name, the others had warmed up to him a little but, they didn't seem ready to be on a first name basis. Out of the corner of his eye Harry saw Dean approaching, he stiffed slightly hoping no one else noticed. Dean glanced at Harry, meaningfully, before speaking, "Hey, Gin, I know that I can't eat with you here, but I thought maybe Saturday we could have a picnic lunch out by the lake."

"I'm sorry, Dean, that's when our Quidditch try-outs are, I can't make it," she said sincerely.

"There are only eight people in your house, and Hermione doesn't fly, besides your really good, I'm sure, Harry will give you a spot, you can miss tryouts."

"_I_ am the Quidditch captain, not Harry, so no I can't miss, and while only seven people want to be on the team, I don't know which position to put everyone in."

"Then move tryouts, you never have time for me."

The members of Merlin House sucked in their breath at once, with another group you would have thought someone had said 'Voldemort,' Dean seemed to be the only one who did not understand how wrong he had been to make that statement. Tuesday and Luna who were sitting on either side of Ginny, slowly began inching away, fearful of being caught in her path. "Dean Thomas, you are _NOT_ the focal point of my life, I will not move our Quidditch trials to suit _YOUR_ schedule, I can't believe you would suggest such a thing!"

"What, am I supposed to do I never see you, you spend more time with Harry than me why don't you go date him!"

"Harry, is my friend, are you suggesting that I drop my friends and spend time with only you, cuz that ain't happenin', mister."

"Fine," Dean said as he turned on his heal and stalked off.

Ginny sat in her chair muttering under her breath, she noticed that her housemates were unusually quiet, as though they were afraid of setting her off again. This suited her well, though because she needed time to think about her relationship with Dean and where exactly it was going. Of course, she wouldn't have started dating him at all if Harry had been the least bit interested in her, but he showed no signs of thinking of her as anything other than a friend. She felt a little guilty when she thought about his friendship, she had stopped having nightmares, several days ago, but she just really liked having him wake her every morning, he would never take advantage of someone else's trust like that.

The others left Ginny alone for the rest of the evening, she for her part seemed to be happy to be left alone. The one thing about the confrontation at dinner, that no one could understand, was why it put Harry in such a bad mood. They all, except for the Weasley siblings, knew how Harry felt about Ginny, so why should he be mad that she was fighting with her boyfriend. He had disappeared into the training room hours ago and no one had dared to go in after him, not after the way he had yelled at Hermione, when she started badgering him about the grading criteria for the essay he had assigned. She had peaked into the training room about an hour after Harry went in, and informed everyone that he was working out, before returning to her studies.

Harry felt guilty about having yelled at Hermione, shit, it seemed like all he ever did anymore was feel guilty. He felt guilty about keeping secrets, felt guilty about his happiness that Ginny was staying in his room, he felt guilty about yelling at Hermione, which he had only done because he felt guilty about Ginny's fight with Dean. Okay so they had actually done anything, and Ginny didn't have feelings like _that_ for him but, Dean already thought that Harry and Ginny were spending to much time together, imagine if he knew the truth. He pushed him self even harder, running at an alarming pace on the treadmill trying to drive his thoughts out of his head.

After three hours of waiting in the common room for Harry to join them again, the others were becoming rather edgy. Finally unable to stand it anymore, Draco rose from his chair, "That's enough of this crap, if he keeps this up he'll kill himself," and he walked pointedly walked to toward the doors of the training room. Tuesday, and Luna looked up at Ron and Hermione apprehensively.

From the couch nearest the fire Neville said quietly, "There is no way they are both gonna come out of there alive."

"You feel like getting in the middle of it to stop, either of them? Malfoy's ruthless and I have never seen Harry half this mad, and that's really saying something."

"Ron, that's not funny." Hermione sounded alarmingly like Mrs. Weasley.

"I think a good fight is exactly what Harry needs right now." They all turned to look at Tuesday a little shocked. She blushed but continued, "I mean, I haven't really known Harry that long, and I don't know exactly what has him so riled up, but he needs to blow off some steam somehow, and I think Draco is more likely than the rest of us to fight back, not to mention let whatever Harry says to him roll off his back."

"I think you could have a point, I would normally not have a problem telling Harry to knock it off, I've done it before, but tonight…." Hermione let her voice trail off; she had almost added that she could see why he was the one who was going to defeat Voldemort. Luna, Neville and Ron nodded, silently finished her sentence in their heads.

Malfoy strode into the Gymnasium; slamming the heavy mahogany door behind him he quickly cast an imperturbable charm on the room. Harry stared at him awestruck, and then Draco started shouting, "What the hell is wrong with you, Potter? You have the entire fucking house on edge! Do us all a favor and tell the girl your head over heels in love with her already."

"Sod off, you don't understand any of it anyway," Harry growled.

"Maybe you should start wearing your glasses again, because you're bloody blind."

"Bullocks."

"I don't know how they ever made you a Professor, because you are the stupidest person I ever met! You are the only person in the entire school who doesn't seem to know that Ginny Weasley would drop Dean in a second if she thought she had a chance with you!"

"Oh, I doubt that's true, you don't understand people do you? And even if she would do you think that I could let her do that to him, we're supposed to be friends."

"So you are going to prevent what would be the best thing that ever happened to you because it could hurt someone who you aren't even good friends with! God, you're thicker than the Weasleys."

"Where, the bloody hell, do you get off, insulting the Weasleys!"

"I was insulting you, half-wit, and the only reason I called Ron and Ginny thick is because they are the only ones who haven't realized how you feel about her! Did you know that the Ravenclaws have started a pool on when you and Ginny get together?"

"Well, that isn't happening, even if Dean wasn't an issue I still couldn't date Ginny!"

"Why not are the Weasley brothers so formidable a force that the boy-who-lived can't face them, if that's the case why don't we send them out now and let them beat Voldemort! I always figured it would be you, but if they scare you maybe I was wrong."

"I am _not_ afraid of the Weasleys! You know nothing about my life or my relationship with their family, so shove it."

"What is there to know! You never had a real family and they adopted you, big damn deal! I never had a real family, and I grew up with my parents, they left me to be raised by a house elf. So stop feeling so sorry for yourself, you aren't the only one with a shit childhood!"

Harry gaped at Malfoy, unsure how to react, "What was his name?" He asked all of his anger gone.

"What?" Draco asked, looking bewildered.

"What was the name of the house elf that raised you?"

"Dobby, but I fail to see why that matters I know there is no way you bought him."

"Do you miss him?"

"Yeah, I suppose so, does this have a point?"

"I know where he is."

"So I still won't be able see him, will I, so it hardly matters."

"You can see him if you want, just say the word."

"Not now, it's late and your friends are probably worried about you, Ron probably thinks I'm trying to kill you."

"I'd imagine that if that is what you wanted you could just kill me in my sleep."

"Your right, but I see no reason to kill you," he said honestly.

"What makes you say that I'll be the one to defeat Voldemort?"

"Dunno, just seemed to make sense, you almost killed him once without trying, so I figured that if you made up your mind to kill him then you would."

Harry nodded unsure how to proceed, "Right, well, let's go back out to the common room."

"Sure, but seriously I really do think that you should consider telling Ginny the truth." They headed out to the common room, Malfoy removing the spell on the room as they went. "While your thinking about that, you might think about killing that bastard Voldemort," He said quietly, his voice full of malice.

Everyone looked up when they came walking out of the training room, they all seemed to be relieved to see that Harry was okay, but Ron seemed slightly disappointed that Malfoy was still alive. Hermione was the first to speak, "Did you have a good work out, Harry?" She raised one eyebrow questioningly, as if hoping to find out more.

"Yeah, not bad," Harry answered shortly mostly to annoy her.

"That's good then. Can I borrow Hedwig; I want to send a letter to Remus."

"Yeah go ahead, night everyone, and thanks Draco, I'll keep that in mind." He walked across the room to his apartment. He showered and lay down, he wasn't ready to sleep yet, and he figured he had at an hour before Ginny came in he lay there thinking about what Draco had said, maybe he was right. Maybe Harry should tell Ginny, and hope for the best maybe if she did like him they could just say to hell with Dean. No, he thought miserably, they couldn't, he was Harry's friend, and Harry doubted the he could do that to anyone regardless of what he thought of them.

He must have dozed off, because he woke up suddenly when he heard the door open. He turned his head to smile at Ginny, "Hey you, come on in." They said their good nights and Harry soon knew she was asleep from the evenness of her breathing. He just lay there listening, Malfoy's words running through his mind like a broken record, 'she would drop Dean for the chance to be with you.' He had to know how she really felt, he sat-up planning to wake her and ask but as he sat up he caught a glimpse of her emotions band, it was not full of purple as it had been the first night that she joined him, even when she had slept that night it had remained. He hadn't bothered to look after that night, but what he saw now was shocking. He had observed people together since they discover what each color meant, and had found that love of family or friends was represented by a dull gold, while love for a significant other was a bright gold, and the gold representing the love between soul mates was so brilliant it was almost difficult to behold. The gold light he saw around Ginny was the brightest that he had ever seen, and with this there was a ring of purist white.

Harry knew in that instant that he could not tell Ginny how he felt and even though he loved her more than he could say he could not let her be hurt because they were together, he would let her go, let her stay with Dean even if it broke his heart. He lay back down on the couch and went to sleep.

Harry woke Ginny as usual the next morning, so she could get back to her room unnoticed, he could not help taking a quick look to see what she was feeling, worried he had only dreamed the colors that had been there the night before, he hadn't, they were still there, only now that she was awake they were slightly pink. He watched her walk out, and as she crossed his threshold he noticed a short burst of brown.

When Harry went into the common room, he found Hermione sitting in front of the fire with Crookshanks in her lap, she did not look up at him, "Good morning Harry, tell me why does your aura have so many colors today?"

"How can you know that without even looking at me? And to answer your question, Ginny."

"I can sense the auras, and read them without actually looking at the colors, can't you?" He shook his head. "oh, well tell me what has Ginny done to cause the light blue? I can understand the green, gold, and yellow, but what has you so confused?"

"I looked at her aura last night, while she was sleeping and it was white and gold the brightest gold I have ever seen. I though that maybe she was just dreaming but, I looked again this morning and it was the same, and then when she walked out there was a flash of brown." He dropped his head into his hands and groaned.

"Well, I had hoped you wouldn't think to do that, but now that you have what are you going to do?"

"I don't know. I can't do anything really; I would never forgive myself if I did anything to break them up, and besides it would be too dangerous for me to date anyone, what with the prophecy and all."

"Harry, promise me something, you don't have to do anything, don't tell her if you think that's right, but if she should find out how you feel, let her decide what she wants to do, she knows all about that and she is capable of making her own decision."

"I'll promise you that if you promise me something, you won't do anything to let her know how I feel."

"I promise, Harry."


	17. Draco Malfoy's Essay

**Chapter 17: Draco Malfoy's Essay**

The next several days passed quickly, Saturday's Quidditch try-outs went well they found several line-ups that worked well, Ginny promised to let them know at breakfast on Tuesday what her final decision was. Everyone was fairly certain which position they were going to play, except for Harry and Draco, they knew one of them would be seeker but they had no idea who Ginny would choose. So they were all anxious as they sat at breakfast that morning, "Come on Gin, just tell us what their playing already," Ron whined for the hundredth time that morning.

"Okay, okay, well I have gone over this from every angle, but I have finally made a decision," she paused, dragging it out to irritate Ron. "So here's what we are gonna do, Ron your gonna play keeper, Luna and Tuesday are gonna be beaters, Neville and I are chasers…"

"Ginny, come onnn."

"The third chaser, will be Draco and Harry you will be seeker, cuz honestly Harry you're a rubbish chaser." She smiled at him apologetically.

"Yeah, I know, he really is," said Draco. He then quickly ducked as Harry launched a handful of scrambled eggs at him. Unfortunately, for her, Pansy Parkinson was walking past the table at the time, and the eggs hit her in the face.

The entire hall went deathly silent, and the Headmaster rose. All eyes turned to him, he cleared his throat, "Professor Potter, we do not allow the throwing of food, and Professors are not exempt form that."

"Sorry, sir," Harry said turning bright red.

"Quiet all right, let's not let it happen again."

Harry nodded, and Draco leaned over and said in a voice loud enough to be heard through the entire hall, "Nice shot though, mate." And all of Merlin House broke into hysterical laughter. Draco felt for the first time that he was being accepted for who he was and not for who his father was.

When they finally managed to stop laughing they rose and headed out of the Great Hall, to their morning classes. The rest of the school was left gaping at the changes that the members in Merlin House had undergone in just one week. When the sixth years entered defense they were unsure of what to expect, Harry, and his group had made friends with Draco Malfoy, and that was completely unexplainable, and they didn't even act like friends anymore somehow they seemed to have formed a family.

"Please place your essays on my desk, and take a seat, at the risk of sounding like Professor Umbridge, we will not be using our wands today. During the next two classes you will be taking an exam to gauge what you know and don't know. Today's part will be the written exam and next weeks will be the practical. I want to stress that these tests will not be graded, they are simply to determine what areas need work." He passed out the papers and sat down at his desk to read though the essays, the first several were unimpressive, but the fifth essay, was outstanding.

_Until recently I would have said there was nothing that I would find worth fighting for. In fact, I actually wrote this essay once already, the day it was assigned, in that essay I detailed all of the reasons that I thought that would get me a good grade. I realized after I wrote that essay that maybe there was a reason that I did not feel that my life was worth fighting for. So I began to watch the people around me, and I thought about what you said, Professor, you could have refused to answer, Pansy was just trying to provoke you, but you said that you would fight for love. I tried to make a list of all of the people in my life that I had ever loved; I did not come up with a single name, not one. So I picked four other students from my house and I wrote out a list of all of the people that they loved, all of the people that I knew of, I imagine that there were more than I included. I was overwhelmed with jealousy, I wanted to know that feeling, and watching those students together, I knew that if anyone would ever give me a chance it would be them, but I had been horrible to them in the past, and did not no where to begin to try and repair the damages, so one of them did it for me, he accepted me as a friend an and equal. I ask Professor, for their forgiveness, and for the forgiveness of all of my housemates, they are not the only people I have wronged but I have to start somewhere. So please, show them this essay, and make sure that they understand, that I, Draco Malfoy wish to fight Voldemort so that I may learn about love, and the good things that I have seen in those people, who without knowing it offered me hope and a reason to live. And let them know that I humbly beg for their forgiveness. And I ask that if they can indeed forgive me, they help me to make amends to all of those I have wronged. And also thank you Professor, and Neville for saving my life and giving me a second chance._

Harry looked up for the stack of papers on his desk, and stared at Draco, for the first time he realized exactly how much the boy had changed, it seemed a lifetime ago, that Harry had pulled him to his feet on Platform 9 ¾, it had only been two weeks, not even that. For the first time, Harry looked at Malfoy's aura, to find out more about his personality, he saw an array of color much like the ones he and his other friends possessed. Deep blue, warm red, yellow, light blue, teal, white, silver and a hint of pink. He wished for a second that he had looked sooner, so that he could have seen it change as he knew it must have. He shook his head, to clear his mind and turned back to the essays. Ron's was good, although nothing compared to the emotion in both Hermione and Neville's papers. Dean's was okay, Seamus and Susan's were good and Pansy's was just a waste of paper.

Harry looked at his watch and realized it was nearly time, for class to be over, "Quills down please, turn your parchments in and you may leave, we will be using wands next lesson. For those of you in my House, we will have a meeting in the common room immediately after dinner." It was time to tell the others what they were getting into by casting their lots with Harry.

"Is that just for sixth years? Ginny is supposed to meet me after dinner," Dean asked, looking more than a little peeved.

"No, I'm sorry, Dean it's not, you will have to meet her another night, although we have Quidditch practice tomorrow, and the dueling club starts on Thursday."

"She's not dating you, Potter, you can't control everything she does," Dean retorted angrily.

"That's the difference between us then, I wouldn't want to control her, whether we were dating or not," Harry responded without even looking at Dean. Dean's face twisted in rage, sensing trouble Seamus, Lavender and Pavarti grabbed hold of him and began to drag Dean away.

As they left the room, they could hear, Seamus say to his friend, "You don't want to mess with him, mate."

"Why not, what's he going to do give me a detention?"

"Don't be stupid, Dean," Lavender said joining the conversation.

"She's right," Pavarti said, "Harry wouldn't deal with this like a Professor, and you know it."

"I'm not afraid of Potter, I may not be a match for him but, I could block his spells long enough for him to come to his senses."

"Didn't I tell you not to be stupid? He wouldn't be using spells either, that boy has some serious muscles and he looked ready to pound your face in."

In the classroom still, the Merlin House sixth years were watching Harry wearily, then he spun almost faster they could see and punched the wall. Mouths dropped open; there was a dent in the stone. Hermione, Draco and Neville exchanged looks, all knowing full well why Harry was so mad. Ron didn't notice, he had turned from Harry toward the door looking like he wanted to go after Dean himself. Harry spoke sheepishly, "You guys go ahead to transfiguration, I guess its time to I stop into see Madame Pomfrey, god I hate that place, but I think I shattered most of the bones my hand, and I can't heal that on my own."

"Harry, your not the only one who can heal you know," Neville said.

"Your right would you mind, Neville?"

"Not at all." And moments later they were off to transfiguration, Harry's hand as good if he had never broken it.


	18. In The Wolf Pack

**Chapter 18: In the Wolf Pack**

They sat in the Great Hall later for lunch, the sixth years chatting happily, waiting for the fifth year girls to join them. Harry had let the others read Malfoy's essay, along with a note he had quickly jotted about his aura and telling them Draco and Tuesday the prophecy, they were careful not to let Draco find out what it really was so they had cast a charm on it similar to the marauders map, with the pass word being 'Snape is a git'. When Luna and Tuesday arrived they informed them of the meeting that night and asked where Ginny was, and Luna responded a little uncertainly, "Dean needed to talk to her about something, he seemed really mad."

"Yeah, I suppose he would be," Harry said and quickly filled them in on the argument, leaving out the part of it where he punched the wall.

Unfortunately for him Draco was not so inclined, and he related the rest of the story to them, they laughed so hard that Luna fell out of her chair, and Tuesday had tears streaming down her face.

Harry concentrated hard and using his metamorphagus power turned into Professor Umbridge, only distinguishable from her, by the lightning scar on his forehead, "Mr. Malfoy, you must not tell nasty evil attention seeking lies!" And switched back, this caused the girls to laugh even harder and they were then joined by Ron, Hermione and Neville, and they all laughed hysterically until the Merlin table was for the second time that day drawing the attention of the entire Hall.

Their laughter died down as Ginny came up to the table clearly annoyed, "Does anyone know what has Dean in such a bad mood? He was fine when I talked to him this morning."

"Sorry, Gin, I think that's my fault," Harry said blushing slightly, and hoping that no one would tell her that he had punched the wall. "I announced at the end of defense that we were having a House meeting tonight and he was upset because he was supposed to meet you tonight."

Ginny looked confused, "That's odd we didn't have plans to meet tonight. Oh, well what's the meeting about then?"

"We'll discuss it later, this isn't the time or place for it. In the common room right after dinner." Harry seeing that she planned to press the issue, gave her a look and shook his head, she seemed to get his message. Lunch passed pleasantly and Draco's essay left with Ginny, along with a note from Hermione on how to read it and they split up to go to their afternoon classes.

Harry's first period after lunch was free so he decided to go up to his classroom and practice using his powers, he could now cast almost all spells wandlessly and had developed the ability to teleport in his ferret, wolf, and panther forms, he hadn't bothered trying with the phoenix from because they could more or less teleport on their own. He hoped that he would be able to learn to do wandless magic while in his animal forms, he was having limited amounts of success, he could produce a shield, do a disarming spell, it had been extremely funny the day he hid in Snape's room in his ferret form and kept causing Snape to drop his wand, although he did think that might have been why the entire class ended up with detention, for 'disrespectful attitudes,' which Harry was relatively certain meant that they had been laughing at him. He couldn't however seem to produce any offensive spells. Maybe he could ask McGonagall sometime; after all she had been an animagus for years.

The rest of the day flew by, and before they knew it they were all assembled in front of the fire, waiting for Harry to join them, he had stopped to talk with a student about their essay; the student was worried that the essay would be shared with the entire class and Harry couldn't convince them otherwise. As they sat there no one spoke they didn't know what to say, weren't sure what the evening would bring. Harry teleported on to the couch next to Ginny, "Man, I hope I was never half that annoying, that kid wouldn't stop talking, so everyone ready to begin?"

"We have been ready for nearly half an hour, Harry, we were just waiting for you," said Hermione her voice laced with laughter.

"Right, here we go, I asked most of you to read something before coming, did everyone get a chance?" He looked around at the group everyone, but Draco nodded. "That is the issue I would like to address first. I asked them all to read your essay, so I hope your request to have them do so, was serious," he said all of this looking directly at Draco, looking somewhat anxious about how they would all react he nodded. "I would like to say that regardless of what the others say, I forgive you and ask that you forgive me for any wrongs that I committed against you."

Draco looked like he might lose all of his composure at this point, "I forgive you, Harry."

"Same goes for me," said Ron with a shrug. A chorus of 'me too's' came from around the room.

A single tear slid down Draco's cheek, he didn't say anything, but they all understood his gratitude. As he looked around the room he could not help but think that he had done nothing to deserve these people, to deserve friends like this but he had every intention of doing everything in his power to make sure they never regretted their decision.

"Good, now that we have covered that there is something that I feel anyone who is close to me should know, most of you know this already, since I told you over the summer, but Tuesday and Draco I think that you have the right to know as well." Harry told them about the prophecy and about the expansion of power that they had all undergone on Harry and Neville's birthday. Neither of them seemed to surprised by all of this information this, but they were amazed at the level of power that their friends possessed.

"Harry," Tuesday said tentatively, "do you think that you or Hermione could look at my aura? I would like to know what it says about me."

Hermione cleared her throat, "I've already done that, here have a look." Hermione took out a parchment and added something else to it before handing it to her. "I added you to the list the night that we were resorted, I hadn't added you yet Draco, your power level has been stable, but your personality band was constantly shifting." The list now read:

_Harry Emerald Green gold, warm red, light blue, pink, deep blue, white, silver, yellow, teal, grey_

_Ginny True Green pink, gold, warn red, yellow, deep blue, light blue, silver, teal, white_

_Draco Grass Green deep blue, warm red, yellow, light blue, silver, teal, white_

_Hermione Lime Green white, pink, light blue, gold, deep blue, warm red, yellow, teal, silver_

_Ron Lime Green light blue, warm red, pink, deep blue, gold, yellow, white, silver_

_Luna Aqua Green deep blue, white, pink, light blue, warm red, gold, teal, yellow_

_Neville Aqua Green light blue, pink, warm red, white, gold, yellow, deep blue, purple (fading out)_

_Tuesday Sky Blue deep blue, pink, yellow, light blue, warm red, gold, silver, teal_

Hermione briefly explained the list, and what the colors meant. When Tuesday finished reading over the list, she handed it to Draco, who read it and shook his head, "Well who would have thought. I think while we are all sharing I should tell you about a few powers of mine, first I am a teleporter, which is how I snuck up on you those few times Harry, and I'm an animagus, a white wolf actually."

Tuesday sighed, "Guess it's my turn, I can be invisible at will and I a deer animagus."

They all laughed, and then Luna asked, "So is there anyone else in the school that's even close to our power levels?"

"Well, I can't be one hundred percent sure, but I don't think so, the closest I have seen a few pinks among the students, and Snape and McGonagall are in the purple range, and of course Dumbledore is somewhere between Harry and Ginny," Hermione said in matter of fact tone.

"What? There is no way that I am more powerful that Dumbledore, guys, come on he knows so much, and Voldemort's afraid of him and…"

"Wake up, Potter, you have to kill the bastard, Dumbledore can't and why do you think he keeps trying to kill you, if your dead you can't kill him," Draco said rolling his eyes.

"He's right, Harry, he's after you not Dumbledore, he tried to kill you as a baby, to keep you from growing up if that's not fear I don't know what is," Ginny reached out and put a hand on Harry's shoulder as she spoke.

Harry seemed to calm down for a minute before he remembered all of the reasons why Ginny was off limits. He stood up abruptly, "It's late, I'm going to bed. Good Night."

Ginny looked slightly hurt by this, but gathered up her stuff and quickly went into her room. Hermione headed into their library, muttering something about Arithmancy, and the others drifted off to their own rooms. Later after he heard Ginny enter Harry's room, Draco slipped out and walked quietly to the library, he was relieved to find Hermione still seated at a table studying. "Can I talk to you for a minute, Hermione?"

"Oh," she said caught slightly off guard, "yes, of course."

"Well, first I want to tell you that I am truly sorry for the way I have treated you, I was raised to think that pure bloods are better than half-bloods or muggle-borns. I know that doesn't excuse any of it, but I have seen since the Resorting that you are a great witch, not just powerful but you really care for the people around you and you never complained about my presence in the house and that means a lot to me."

"I'll be honest with you Draco, I thought something was wrong when the Hat put you in our House, but after Harry was sorted there was something in his face that told me everything would work out. So I kept my mouth shut, and I really didn't mean you that day, when we were talking about the essay Harry assigned."

"That really wasn't the issue anyway it was more about me feeling sorry for myself or whatever."

She nodded, "Was there something else you wanted to talk about?"

"Yeah, I think it's about time that Harry and Ginny got together, and I was just wondering what you thought about that."

"Officially, I will have to deny knowing anything about this little plan of yours, I made a promise to Harry that I would say out of it. But, unofficially, I would have to say that you are definitely right, did you have anything in

particular in mind?"

He grinned wickedly and explained his plan to her, she smiled and nodded, "It just might work."


	19. Malfoy's Mission

**Chapter 19: Malfoy's Mission**

The next several days brought the members of Merlin house even closer together than they had been previously. The only times they seemed to be apart was when they were in classes. Draco planned to put his plan into action one Saturday morning right after breakfast, knowing that Ginny and Dean, planned to spend the morning studying by the lake. He just hoped that Harry didn't create a rainstorm like he did every time they planned to do this, which would really have unpleasant repercussions. Luckily for Draco, Harry said he wanted to spend the morning out flying, so it seemed unlikely that Harry would create a storm.

It was also working to Draco's advantage that Ginny and Dean planned to meet out by the lake, rather than walking out together, as it would ensure that he could find Dean on his own, so that when he confronted Ginny there would be no one around to hear the fight, he definitely did not want to damage her reputation any. Ginny walked out first, and Draco followed her planning to wait in the Entrance Hall for Dean. As he left he saw Harry turn and walk up the stairs to get his Firebolt, and he went back to watching for Dean. When he saw the Gryffindor coming he pushed himself off of the wall he was leaning on, and walked up to Dean, "Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"No, go away, I don't know why your new Housemates trust you, but I sure don't, so bugger off."

"I come to help you out and this is how you repay me? Very well, find out for yourself," he turned away, hoping he had said enough to spark his curiosity.

"What is it then?"

"I don't think I'll tell you, now, sorry."

He heard Dean's wand come out and turned to face him, as Dean spoke, his voice coming out as a snarl. "Speak now, ferret."

Draco flicked his wrist and Dean's wand went flying, "You were saying? Very well I'll tell you but you can't let anyone know where you found out. Promise?" A sneer crossed his face, as he watched Dean mull it over.

"Yeah, alright. I promise, now spill it."

"Your girl's running around behind your back, she sleeps in Potter's room every night. Okay, I don't actually know that they are doing anything, since we all have our own rooms but…she has slept in there every night for the last two weeks."

Dean stared at him for several seconds, "You all have your own rooms? Wait, she's what! No way, you're lying to me!"

"You don't believe me ask her yourself." With a shrug he turned and walked back in the Great Hall. He sat down next to Hermione and lean over so he could talk to her without being over heard. "Phase one, complete."

The girl smiled sadly and got up to leave. The others looked at them quizzically and then went back to eating. Hermione went back up to the common room and disappeared into the library not wanting to be associated with anything that would take place that day.

At that same moment Harry found himself feeling exceptionally guilty once again, he knew what he was doing was wrong but, he had to find out if Ginny loved Dean and he couldn't think of another way. So he was curled up in her book bag as a ferret and invisible hoping to get the chance to look at her aura. He just hoped that no body ever found out about this, they would never let him live it down.

He peaked out of the bag to see if Dean was coming yet, and sure enough there he was, strange he looked pretty pissed off. He threw his bag down next to Ginny's, almost hitting Harry on the nose. "Are you fucking Potter?" he said through clenched teeth.

"What the hell! How could you even think that? Don't you trust me?" Ginny was now shouting and had turned a brilliant shade of Weasley red, however, unfortunately, for Dean it was not the result of embarrassment.

"Then why are you sleeping in his room?" Dean had now started shouting.

"I had a nightmare and I was scared! He let me stay with him because I was afraid to be alone!"

"Two weeks of nightmares? I find that really hard to believe, you little slut!"

"You son of a bitch, Harry is my friend it's not like that!"

"Sure everybody knows that he is in love with you! Of course, he let you stay, but you shouldn't have gone to stay with him! Damn it, you could have gone to your brother or Hermione, so don't tell me it is because he is just a friend!"

"Your right he's not just a friend! He's the friend that saved my life, and was nice enough to give up his bed so that I would not have to be alone! How many people do you think would have been willing to do that! I know _you_ wouldn't!"

"That's right because I am not as good as you precious, perfect Potter! Tell me did you fuck him on the night of our anniversary? I hope he was good!"

"Dean, I swear I never had sex with Harry! And I told you I was sorry that I forgot that!"

"Yeah, you had a 'House' meeting, sure none of the Houses in the school have meetings like that!"

"We do! There are only eight of us in the House and whatever we do affects all of the others!"

"So how is it affecting your brother? Knowing his tart of a baby sister won't sleep with her boyfriend but spread her legs readily enough for his 'best friend'!"

"Really, Dean, you've known Harry long enough to know that he wouldn't do that, and you _should _know me well enough to know that I wouldn't either!"

"Yeah, I'm supposed to trust you? If you two being together is so innocent then why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I didn't think it was a big deal!"

"Do you love him? Do you love Potter as more than just a friend or a brother?" Ginny looked down, at the ground she couldn't answer him; she could not deny her feelings for Harry. When she didn't respond Dean continued, "You've got two choices Ginny, go to Dumbledore and ask him for a change of Houses, and never see Potter again, and stay with me, or stay in the house your in now and go back to being Potter's whore."

Before Dean even saw it coming Ginny had punched him in the nose, she yelled at him once more, "You bloody ass, I never cheated on you!" Then she kneed him in the groin, and scooped up her bag and ran back to the common room, tears streaming down her face.

The last thing Harry the ferret saw before he teleported himself back to his room, was Dean Thomas on the ground curled in to a fetal position crying. When Harry arrived back in his room he realized he was supposed to be out on the Quidditch pitch flying, he returned to his human form, grabbed his Firebolt, and disappeared.

Once he reached the pitch, he couldn't decide if he should just walk back up to the castle or if he should fly for awhile. Deciding that he didn't want to appear to return right as Ginny did, so he jumped on his broom and zoomed around the pitch.


	20. Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

**Chapter 20: Breaking Up is Hard to Do**

Ginny entered the Common Room sobbing, Luna and Tuesday looked up, as she ran through, Luna followed Ginny into her room and Tuesday ran into the library to get Hermione. "'Mione come on, it's Ginny, she just came into the common room sobbing."

Hermione felt a sharp tug at her heart she had known this was coming but, she still felt awful, even though she knew in the long run, Ginny would be much happier for it. She jumped up and followed Tuesday.

The girls spent the better part of the day locked in Ginny's room. The entire house missed lunch; everyone was too worried about Ginny to notice. Draco was unusually silent, as he struggled with his conscience; he knew that Ginny and Harry were meant to be together and that the sooner she broke up with Dean, the better, that way neither of them would be hurt anymore than they were hurting now, but he felt rotten for causing their pain.

While Malfoy sat stewing in his guilt, the girls had locked the door and cast an imperturbable charm on the room. Ginny started telling them about what happened between herself and Dean.

"I was down by the lake, waiting for Dean, then he comes storming up to me, tosses his bag down and accused me of cheating on him with Harry." It was a mark of how upset she was that she didn't see the look that the other girls exchanged.

"I told him that Harry and I were just friends and that nothing like that ever happened between us and he didn't believe me," she sniffled before continuing. "He said that the House meeting that Harry called wasn't real and that I spent our anniversary in bed with Harry."

"That Bastard!" Hermione said, in an indignant tone, Luna and Tuesday nodded their agreement.

"And then he asked me if I was in love with Harry and I couldn't say no, so Dean said I had to choose between being friends with Harry and him. And if I didn't go to the Headmaster and ask for a change of house, then I could just go back to being Harry's whore."

"Oh, Gin, I'm so sorry," Luna said giving her a quick hug.

When Ginny finally stopped crying she said quietly but in a firm tone, "It's for the best I suppose, I don't want to be with someone who thinks things like that about me. But, I do wonder how he knew I have been sleeping in Harry's room."

"Uh, Gin, we're gonna need more of an explanation than that." Tuesday said, unsure what to think, she really didn't think Ginny had cheated but this didn't sound good.

"It's not as bad as it sounds," Hermione said quickly.

"You know Hermione?"

"Yes, Harry told me."

"Why?"

"Gin, I can't tell you that, it wouldn't be fair to him, after all I don't tell him your secrets."

"Will you explain it to those of us who are still, not getting what's going on?"

Ginny sighed, "After our first day of defense class, I had a nightmare about the Chamber of Secrets, I've had them before, and my parents or my brothers would come and sit with me but it didn't make the fear go away. That one was the worst nightmare I had ever had, so I went to Harry, because he saved me in real life, so I thought he might be able to save me from my dreams as well. And then after a couple of nights the nightmares stopped but I was sleeping well for the first time in years, I wasn't afraid to sleep, so I kept sleeping in his room." She looked slightly ashamed as she admitted all of this to them. "It's not like we where sleeping in the same bed or anything he always slept on the couch and let me have his bed." She looked up at them tears in her eyes again, "Does that make me a bad person?"

Tuesday was the first to speak, "No, sweetie, of course it doesn't, you just turned to a friend for comfort. Come on, no more tears. If you really want to know how he found out then maybe we have one of the boys ask Dean."

Ginny thought about this for a second, "I don't think so, for one I can't see any of the boys finding out what he said and not wanting to pound the life out of him, they all treat me like a little sister, even Draco. Any way I don't think Dean would talk to them, he doesn't trust Draco, he'll be afraid to talk to Ron, and Harry is what started the fight in the first place." They all laughed to that last remark before she continued, "He might talk to Neville, but I think I'd rather just keep as much of the details between the girls as possible. I don't think Dean will tell anyone, so at least I don't have to worry about that."

Luna looked at her uncertainly, "Why wouldn't he tell anyone?"

"Well, first, he would have to admit that he wasn't 'satisfying' me, which would be a devastating blow to his ego. And more importantly, I think he is a little scared of Harry, soo…"

Hermione let out a snort of laughter and finished Ginny's sentence, "and so he'll be afraid that Harry wouldn't look kindly on someone badmouthing his girlfriend. Come on, let's go get dinner, we all missed lunch already."

None of the boys were sure of how to react during the long absence of the girls. Only Harry and Draco knew what had happened, and neither of them was willing to admit what they knew. When Harry came in from the quidditch pitch he found Ron, Neville and Draco sitting on the couches staring at the door to Hermione and Ginny's room. He paused and frown looking at them, "Hey, guys what's going on?"

Ron looked at him, his face full of concern, "We don't know what's going on, Ginny came running in crying, then all four girls disappeared in there, and we haven't heard anything, since. I tried to listen in on the extendable ears, but they put an imperturbable charm on the door."

"Is Ginny alright, was she hurt?"

"Not physically as far as I could see, mate." Ron looked at Harry suspiciously for several seconds causing Harry to shift from foot to foot, but he did not say anything else.

Harry went and put his broom away, and returned to join the other boys in guarding the door. The only noise in the room was the sound of the logs shifting in the fire, even Ron's stomach which should have been growling like made by now, was silent. The boys all jumped when the door finally opened and Hermione stepped out, she shut it behind her, and surveyed them before speaking, "I think you all should know, that Ginny and Dean have just broken up. It was a rather nasty fight, and the odds of them getting back together are pretty much nonexistent. Ginny would like to come out know and go to dinner with all of us, but she is not ready to discuss this further and will remain in her room if you can't all promise not to question her about it."

Hermione bit her nervously watching them consider what she had said, she gave Draco a pleading look, hoping he would understand her meaning. He did apparently because the next instant he spoke, "If that's what Ginny thinks, is best, then I'm sure we can all respect her wishes, right guys?"

They all muttered agreement, and Hermione went back in to relay the message. "Okay, Gin, they all agreed, but you should have seen their faces the curiosity is killing them!"

The Merlin House members descended to the Great Hall all starving, to find that dinner had not been served yet. They glanced around the room, curious as to what was going on. As they took their seats, the Headmaster rose, "Now, that we are all here, I have several announcements which will greatly interest our older students. Unfortunately, do to events this summer, we feel that it would be too risky to allow you to visit Hogsmeade." He paused while they all groaned. "However, to make up for this, we will be having a ball for students third year and above. Of course, a younger student may attend, if specifically invited, by an older student."

Ginny groaned even louder at this announcement than she had when he cancelled the Hogsmeade Weekend, "Wouldn't you know it, the day I break up with my boyfriend, they announce a ball." She dropped her head onto the table and hit it a couple of times. They spent the rest of the evening discussing the canceled trip to the village, and soon it was time for bed. It seemed to be a normal night, until Ginny came into Harry's room, and she was visibly shaken, even without looking at her aura, Harry could tell.


	21. Ginny's Nightmare

**Chapter 21: Ginny's Nightmare**

_Ginny once again found herself in the chamber of secrets, as always in her dreams she could see the scene as though from an outsider's perspective. Once again she saw Tom Riddle, watching as the basilisk hunted Harry, laughing when Fawkes arrived with the Sorting Hat. She wanted to scream in horror as the serpent's fang entered his arm, why would he risk his life to save hers. This was where she normally woke, but tonight the dream continued, Harry didn't manage to kill the snake, the sword of Gryffindor was knocked from his hand, and the snake struck again, one of its fangs entered Harry's heart and he fell back eyes glazed over, left to rot on the floor. The basilisk set off down the tunnel back toward where Ron, was clearing a path so that they could return. When the basilisk went through the opening she heard a sickening thump and knew her brother was dead. The first thump was quickly followed by a second, Professor Lockhart, had also fallen from the snakes venom. She turned back to where Tom Riddle stood over her body, "How do you feel now, Ginny? You killed the great Harry Potter." _

And she woke up, tried to scream she could not, she sat in the dark trying to regain control over he emotions, she had failed. Ginny had promised herself before she went to sleep that she would not go to Harry's room that had caused enough trouble already, but she found herself climbing out of her bed and almost without realizing it, she was tapping softly on his door.

He had a strange look on his face as she entered and Ginny thought at first that he wanted her to leave, and turned to go back out the door. Before she knew what had happened he was pulling her into a hug, he held her tightly, one hand stroking her hair softly, "What happened, Gin?"

She knew he wanted her to tell him exactly what had happened in her dream, she just shook her head and murmured, "Just the same old dream." She said a silent prayer that he would believe her.

Harry knew that Ginny wasn't telling him the truth but, he let it drop she wasn't ready to talk about it, he could understand that. So he said quietly, "It was just a dream, it can't hurt you, I'm here." They stood there for several minutes before Harry let her go and said in a mock stern tone, "Now young lady it's time for bed, lights out and no talking."

She smiled faintly and crawled into his bed, "Harry, will you sit with me, just 'til I fall asleep?" He nodded and sat down next to her, he took her hand, leaning back against the head board, planning to move to the couch once Ginny fell asleep, and his eyes began to droop.

The next thing Harry knew his door was being flung open, he realized he was still in his bed arms wrapped around Ginny. The first thought that crossed his mind was 'Dear God, It's Ron, he's gonna kill me.' But the voice he heard was not Ron's it was Hermione's, "Harry, Ginny, wake up! Ron's going berserk, he went into your room, Ginny, and when he couldn't find you he went to the Great Hall and the owlery, now he's doing all of the girls rooms, He can't find you in here."

"Has he checked the training rooms yet?" Harry said, his mind going into overdrive. She shook her head still trying to catch her breath.

"Right get him to start with the dueling room and work his way around by the time he gets to the library we'll be in there." Harry grabbed Ginny and teleported out of the room while Hermione, headed back out to find Ron.

Moments later Ron entered the library, looking around frantically, "Ginny, Ginny, you in here?" He turned around the corner into the restricted section and found Ginny lying on the floor with her head pillowed on her arms, and a potions book. He shook her gently, "Gin, time to wake up, we need to go down to breakfast."

Ginny opened her eyes and looked up at her brother, dazed, "Ron what are you doing in my room?"

"We aren't in your room, you fell asleep in the library, gave me quite a scare when I went in to see if you were okay."

"Ron," Hermione's voice called from the entrance, "did you find her?"

Ron turned to face his girlfriend, "Yeah, she feel asleep studying." He didn't notice Hermione looking over his shoulder, at Ginny who was mouthing a thank-you.

Later that day, Hermione was, once again, studying in the library alone, when she looked up to see a confused looking Draco. "Hey, Malfoy, something on your mind?"

"Did I do the right thing, breaking up Dean and Ginny?" he looked confused and for the first time since they had come to Hogwarts totally unsure of himself. "I mean, I know she and Harry are in love with each other, but she seemed so hurt yesterday."

"Ginny was hurt, I knew she would be, and I think you did too. But, I think she realizes that she is better off without him. You should have heard some off the awful things he said about her."

"If I hadn't interfered how much longer would they have stayed together?"

"Probably long enough for Harry to put a dent, like the one in the wall, in Dean" she said with a faint laugh in her voice. "I don't know for sure, maybe another week, maybe for several years; Ginny wasn't really being fair to him anyway. She knew she loved Harry when the started dating Dean. Of course, I think that getting them together will be even harder, than splitting Ginny and Dean up."

"Yeah, I guess things were getting pretty tense. Well since she's single maybe Harry will get up the nerve to ask her out."

"He thinks he doesn't have the right to date anyone, because it would put them in danger. He did promise me that if I don't tell her, and she finds out that he will let her make up her own mind."

"Maybe I should tell her then."

"Give her some time; if she was to start dating again now, the whole school would be talking about it, it just wouldn't look right."

"Mores the pity, think she'll forgive us if she ever finds out?"

Hermione furrowed her brow in concentration, "I don't really know, if she and Harry are dating then, yeah probably, but otherwise, there's no telling. Harry really loves her, if you could see their aura's when they're together, like this morning when I went to wake them."

"It's bad enough without seeing their aura's, thank you very much."

"What exactly did you say to Dean?"

As Malfoy related the story to her, there was another person who hung on his words with greater interest than Hermione. When she heard them rise to leave she slipped back out of the library and into the empty potions lab and she slid down on to the floor, a huge grin spreading across her face. She didn't know yet what to do with this new information but, she would figure it out.


	22. I Don't Want You Back

Disclaimer: I do not own anything other than the plot.

**Chapter 22: I Don't Want You Back**

It had been weeks since Ginny overheard Hermione and Draco talking in the library. She hadn't wanted to forgive them at first, what right did they have to run her life like that! But, she knew that they had the best of intentions. Besides, thanks to them she now knew that Harry liked her, so she had to give them points for that. She was currently seated in the mediation room waiting for the other girls to show up, they had all been so busy that they hadn't had time to talk since the day she broke up with Dean, and they had agreed to have a girls' night, Ginny was early but she was happy to have the time to think.

"Hey, Gin," Hermione's voice cut through her thoughts, "something on your mind?"

"Just the ball, it's in two weeks and I don't have a date." She spit out the first excuse that came to mind.

"We don't have dates either," Luna said, as she and Tuesday, entered the room.

Tuesday nodded in agreement, before adding, "We'll find dates, don't worry, we still have two weeks." She didn't sound very hopeful, though.

"Who as far as I know, all of the fifth year boys have dates."

They were startled as the door opened and Draco stuck his head in, "Tuesday can I talk to you for a second?" She nodded and got to her feet, and followed him out into the hall.

When she came back in she was practically bursting with excitement, "I have a date! Draco just asked me!"

Ginny sighed and turned to Luna, "I guess you and I are left without dates then."

"I think I'll ask Neville," Luna said getting to her feet. "Be back in a few minutes."

Ginny groaned, "I'm the only one in the house without a date."

Hermione bit her lip to keep from smiling, "Gin, that's not true, Harry doesn't have a date." Ginny shot her a furious look. "Although, I did hear that Cho is planning to ask him sometime tomorrow apparently she realized her mistake in dumping him in the first place."

Luna came back in announcing that she had a date and they sat down to discuss what they planned to wear. Ginny began trying to form a plan to ask Harry to the dance. She still didn't know what she was going to do the next morning at breakfast, but her mind was quickly made up for her.

As they were eating Dean walked over to the table, ignoring the hostile looks the Merlin house girls were giving him. He looked at Ginny, and said quietly, "Ginny, umm…can I talk to you _alone_ for a few minutes?"

She raised an eyebrow, and said coolly, "I don't think so. Whatever you have to say to me you can say here."

He looked unsure, but sensing he wouldn't get another chance he continued, "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry," he looked nervously at the rest of the table, "about the things I said and for not believing you and I would really like to get back together. So, will you go to the ball with me?"

An apologetic look crossed her face, "I'm sorry Dean, but I already have a date." The table looked up at her curiously; they all knew she didn't have a date. Ginny seemed to be holding her breath hoping he would leave.

He stood there looking shell-shocked, mouth opening and closing no words coming out; when he finally managed to speak he said one word. "Who?"

If it was possible Ginny sucked in even more air, she looked unprepared to answer this question, and then suddenly blurted out, "Harry, I'm going with Harry."

Even as the words came out of her mouth Ginny was terrified that Harry would deny them right there. So she nearly fainted from the shock when she felt his arm come up to rest on her shoulder, and heard him say, "That's right, I asked her last night, sorry Dean."

They all sat quietly watching Dean, unsure how he would react. His face went white, and he looked like he wanted to start cursing them all where they sat. Nervously, they all sat watching him, but much to everyone's relief he just turned on his heel and walked away. Ginny turned to face him, about to start speaking, but he nodded his head toward the Ravenclaw table and she looked up to see Cho approaching them.

The pretty Ravenclaw girl looked slightly anxious as she approached them, "Hi Harry."

"Good Morning, Cho."

"How have you been?"

"Not bad, did you have good summer?"

"Yes. Umm…I wanted to ask you, but I keep missing you in the halls…ummm…will you go to the ball with me." She said all of this very quickly.

Harry looked at her for a moment, before he said quietly, "I already have a date Cho, I'm going with Ginny." Cho only then seemed to notice Harry's arm, still draped over Ginny's shoulder. She shot the red-haired girl a venomous look, turned and walked away quickly.

Ginny was the first to speak, "Harry, you didn't have to say no to her, I just didn't want Dean to know that I haven't been able to find a date."

Harry began to laugh, "I've been avoiding her since they announced the ball; I overheard her tell a friend that she planned to ask me. So how about it Gin, since we have already started announcing that were going together, will you go to the ball with me?"

Even Ron noticed his sister swell with joy, as she answered him, "It would be a pleasure, Harry."

"Well, this is interesting," Draco commented bemusedly. When they all looked at him obviously confused, he shook his head and explained, "The only other house that dates exclusively within the house is Slytherin, although that is because they don't want to mix with the other houses."

Hermione looked slightly affronted, "We can't help it if all of the people we care about most happen to be in this house."

"I didn't mean it like that," he said hastily. "It's just its almost odd, think about it there's eight of us, four boys and four girls. Can any of you think of another person that you would want to be in this house, and when is the last time anyone talked to a member of another house outside of class?"

They all sat silently for several minutes, thinking about what he said. Then sensing that they were not ready to deal with this Harry quickly changed the subject back to the Ball. "So does anybody know where we can get new dress robes, I'm fairly certain that mine from Yule Ball won't fit anymore."

"Ron and I ordered ours weeks ago, I guess you could do that, but there is no guarantee that they will come in before the Ball. I suppose we could try to conjure them."

"And by we, she means you Harry, don't you 'Mione." Hermione blushed and glared at Ron, but did not contradict him.

"I guess that's the best way to go, so who all needs robes still?" Everyone except Ron and Hermione raised their hands. "Well, I'll start tonight and do the guys for a bit of practice and if you girls give me a description of what you want then I will do those tomorrow. That way we will have time to alter them if necessary."

The next few weeks passed in a blur, Harry was forced to re-conjure each of the girls robes at least twice, because they over altered the first one. He had trouble understanding exactly what the fuss was but remembered what they had been like getting ready for Hagrid's wedding, so he shrugged it off.


	23. The Halloween Ball

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine.

**Chapter 23: The Halloween Ball**

Halloween arrived, a perfect autumn day, the trees had leaves of every color, and Hagrid's pumpkins were missing from their patch. They were even bigger than any year previous and the students couldn't wait to see them carved into Jack-o'-lanterns.

Harry stood in the Merlin House library looking out over the grounds, not sure what the day would bring. He wasn't sure what the rules of this evening were supposed to be, were he and Ginny on a date, or were they just friends. He still didn't want to do anything to mess up their friendship or to make her uncomfortable around him. He really didn't want her to stop sleeping in his room, he hadn't had any nightmares about Sirius since she first came to his room, and he knew that her presence was the thing driving them away. Sighing he turned back to his potions homework, he needed to have it finished before the ball.

Ginny stood looking in the mirror; all of the girls were gathered in Hermione's room, getting ready for the ball. She couldn't help but be nervous, she wasn't even certain where she and Harry were, friends or was this actually a date. She heard her name being called and turned to see that Hermione was talking to her. "I'm sorry what did you say Hermione?"

"I asked if you knew how you want to do your hair," the older girl said with a curious look.

Ginny smiled and turned back to the group, she would worry later, now it was time to get ready for a ball. The next hours passed pleasantly, as the girls gossiped and fixed there hair and make-up. When they were done they all stood looking in the mirror they made an impressive group, Ginny's smile widened. "Ladies, we are gonna knock 'em dead."

The girls all laughed and stood contemplating their reflection for another minute. Hermione couldn't help but think how right Ginny was; they had all grown-up over the summer. Tuesday left her hair down for once, and it fell in an ebony cascade against robes of such pale blue they were almost white, a perfect contrast to the dark blue robes she had picked out for Draco. Luna stood next to her, looking marvelous in robes of hot pink, she had selected teal for Neville; the blonde's hair was separated into four sections, each French braided, meeting in a high pony-tail. Next, was Ginny wearing a butter yellow that complemented her red hair, which was pulled half up with the rest falling down her back in ringlets, and several wispy tendrils fell around her face. Finally her eyes fell on herself, she was wearing an iridescent purple that was just the right amount of color against Ron's charcoal gray. She had completed her look by pulling her hair into a loose bun, letting a few strands fall down against the base of her neck, not bad for a bushy-haired book worm. "Alright, let's go girls; the ball isn't coming to us." With that they turned and walked out to meet the boys in to common room.

Harry stood in the common room waiting for Ginny to come out, he wasn't sure what to expect, he remember being miserable at the Yule Ball in fourth year, but he had learned to dance since then, which had involve several awkward sessions with Luna, however strange she was the girl could really move, and he actually liked his date which made a difference. The only problem was that he didn't know exactly what they were, was this and actual date or was it two friends going to a ball together. He heard a door opened and looked up, Ginny was the first person to walk out, and everything else left Harry's mind only one thought stood out from the fog in his brain; please Merlin let this be a real date.

Ginny's eyes went straight to Harry as she entered the common room; she couldn't believe how handsome he looked in robes of the exact same shade of emerald as his eyes, Merlin, she hoped this counted as a date. As she reached him he offered her his arm which she gladly took, giving him a shy smile. Why wasn't he speaking?

Harry lead Ginny toward the Great Hall, he knew that he needed to say something but he didn't have the words to tell her how marvelous she looked. "Wow, Gin, you look amazing, I mean you look even more amazing than usual." Okay, a little better, but what was he suppose to say now? He glanced over at Ginny, and was shocked to see that her smile was even wider and pink began to creep up her cheeks, well guess that was enough. As they descend into the Hall Harry couldn't take his eyes off the girl on his arm, their eyes met and the rest of the Hall seemed to melt away.

Hermione could hardly believed her eyes, the entire night was turning out perfectly, the hall looked perfect, with the usual Halloween decorations, and even better Harry and Ginny couldn't take their eyes off of each other, she glance over her shoulder and quickly smiled at Draco, his plan seemed to be working. The rest of Merlin House followed Harry and Ginny to the single octagonal table in the middle of the round tables, and they took their places, with the eyes of the other houses on them. Only two people seemed unhappy to see the two together, Dean and Cho, and Hermione had no intention of letting them spoil the evening. Everything seemed perfect and tonight that was all that mattered.

Ginny was thinking the same thing; this night was going to be perfect. After dinner, she and Harry danced to every so, it was like something out of a dream she had never believed she would spend a night in the arms of her dream guy. As they dance they danced to the final song, she finally realized something, this could be real, he liked her she knew that already but, she also knew that he wouldn't act on his feelings. As the song end she gathered the courage that had put her in Gryffindor, tipped her face up to look at Harry and pressed her lips to his in a passionate kiss.

She was floating that was the only way to describe this feeling, this, this was what she had been searching for her entire life, she felt complete in that moment as her soul mated with Harry's making them both complete. Then she could hear his voice in the back of her mind, and she knew that she wasn't imagining it, as he said the four words she had been waiting to hear, _I love you, Gin_.

Harry could not believe it Ginny Weasley was kissing him, it was as though nothing else existed, he felt years of loneliness slipping away, and one thought kept running through his mind "I love you, Gin." He didn't realize that she could hear his thoughts until he heard her voice in his head, _I love you too, Harry._ Shocked he pulled back and looked her in the eyes, finally noticing the stunned silence in the Hall.

A/N: If you're reading this let me know! If no one is reading I won't continue writing.


	24. The Soul Mate Bond

A/N: Okay for all interested parties the correct Chapter 21 should be posted now, thanks for pointing out the problem by the way. I'll try to update every week or at least every other week, but no promises.

**Chapter 24: The Soul Mate Bond**

Ginny noticed the silence in the Hall as Harry pulled away from her, she glanced around nervously trying to determine what was causing the disturbance. She felt cold fear clutch her heart and quickly dropping her hands from Harry shoulders, she took a step back. Standing in the doorway was the last person she expected to see.

Draco froze standing on the dance floor with Tuesday in his arms, standing in the doorway crusted in dirt and looking half-crazed, (really he was fully crazed but he didn't quite look it) was his father. He hadn't even heard that he got out of Azkaban; he didn't know how this could be possible. His father began shouting, calling him things 'muggle-lover' and 'blood traitor' as he advance across the room. He raised his wand and the only thing that Draco could think to do was push Tuesday out of his father's path as he stood rooted to the spot. He had let himself forget about his father and the consequences when he learned of his son's new friends. And here he was not only sorted out of Slytherin but, attending a ball with a former Hufflepuff, and he had made friends with Harry Potter and crew.

Harry knew that someone needed to act, Draco was just standing there, he was obviously terrified of his father, not that anyone could blame him. He glanced up at the teachers no one seemed to be moving, as he turned back to Draco, he heard Lucius speak, making sense for the first time, "You have betrayed Our Lord and for that you must pay! Avar…" that was all the older man managed to say before he was hit by seven stunners.

Harry sprang into action, "Tuesday, and Ron take Draco up to the common room. Ginny, go to the kitchens and ask Dobby to bring some tea up the common room." He turned to the others, Hermione had already conjured ropes to tie up Lucius, Neville was guarding him and Luna stood of to the side with her usual dreamy look on her face, some things never change. Harry quickly strode across the room and up to the staff table, stopping before the Headmaster he asked quietly, "What would you like us to do with him, Professor?"

"I'll take him from here, the ministry will probably need statements from all of you but, I think those can wait until tomorrow. Good night, and good work, I think it is good for the other students to see how you all look out for each other and work as a team." Harry nodded and wave his housemates over they quickly retreated up the stairs to check on Draco, while Harry waited for Ginny to return. She hurried over to him, and took his arm as the continued up to their common room.

Draco followed Tuesday and Ron up to the common room, totally numb, he had know all along that his father would be furious when he found out about his new house and his new friends, but he never would have believed that of him. To try to kill his own son, it made him sick, and that the ones who had previously been his enemies had been the ones to save him. It seemed so strange now to think about it, just how far they had come in just two months, but it seemed right, he knew that he could trust them, with his very life. In fact, their actions had saved his life, the Professors had been there but his housemates acted first. When they reached the common room, Tuesday gently pushed him onto a couch and sat down besides him taking his hand in hers. It amazed him how much of a soothing presence she had.

Tuesday sat down next to Draco, she was worried about him how was he supposed to cope with this. She watched him out of the corner of her eye, his handsome face was completely unreadable, and despite that she knew that he was confused and incredibly hurt, although he may not have realized that yet. She watched as a tea tray appeared on a small table and quickly began preparing cups for the entire house, handing Draco and Ron theirs. The others came in before she was done and took their seats as she handed them cups. Luna and Neville on the couch opposite herself and Draco, Ron sank into an arm chair and pulled Hermione into his lap, Ginny sat perched on the arm of Harry's chair. They all sat silently for several minutes drinking their tea, Harry was the first to break the silence.

"We all have to give statements to the ministry tomorrow, and I'd imagine Dumbledore will make some type of announcement at dinner." Everyone nodded dumbly and continued to stare at the floor no one wanted to be first to speak.

Finally unable to bear the silence any longer Draco spoke, "Thank you, I never would have imagined he would do something like this, well, to me any way. I guess no one wants to believe their father is a deluded bastard."

"You don't need to thank us," Ginny answered quietly, "we look out for our own, and your one of us now." Everyone murmured their agreement. Sensing that know one wanted to talk about the incident anymore, she said cheerfully, "Let's play a game."

Draco nodded, looking relived, he didn't know what else to say and now he wouldn't have to, "Sounds good what did you have in mind?" They passed the next hours quickly playing poker until everyone was exhausted.

Harry sat up with a book in his lap, he needed to talk to Ginny; he had to find out exactly what had happened between them. It was one of the strangest things that had ever happened to him why had he heard her voice when she wasn't talking. Suddenly his thoughts where interrupted by a familiar voice, '_Harry can you hear me?'_

He quickly looked around the room, she was nowhere to be seen, well then he might as well try telepathy, '_Yeah, Gin, what's up?'_

'_I want to go to sleep, but I can't sleep in here and Ron and Hermione are snogging in the common room.'_

'_Do you want me to come get you?'_

'_Would you mind?'_

'_No problem, on my way.' _Harry appeared in her room seconds later, he could get used to this teleporting thing. "Ready?" he asked out loud, when she nodded he took her hand and they were off. When they arrived he let go of her hand and waited while she climbed into his bed. "Gin, we need to talk, if you're not too tired."

Ginny bit her lip, no she wasn't too tired but she was afraid to hear what he was going to say. She let out a small sigh, "No, I'm not too tired." She left it at that, no way she was going to make it easier for him to tell her, that they couldn't be together.

Harry watched Ginny nervously, not sure how to begin, he cleared his throat, "Uh, what exactly happened tonight? I mean why can we suddenly communicate telepathically? I've never heard of anything like that…" he let his voice trail off unable to read the expression on her face.

Ginny could hardly believe her ears, he wasn't trying to let her down easily, "Well, I've heard of two things that cause such a connection, the marriage bond and the soul mate bond, but I guess it could be something else," she said the last part with a small shrug of her shoulders. She was fairly certain that this was in fact, the soul mate bond but, she didn't what to pressure him. "The marriage bond is fairly common, it is created whenever a wizard and a witch are married, it helps them communicate, and my parents always used it to make sure that the other knew when we were in trouble or not supposed to be doing something. It usually only works in an area, say the size of the Quidditch pitch, give or take a little. The soul mate bond is supposed to work over any distance, but that hasn't been tested much since it's so rare."

Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing, he sat down on the bed next to her, he was either married to Ginny or they were soul mates. "Okay, so how do these bonds form?"

"Well, a marriage bond is created by the exchange of rings in a wedding ceremony, and the soul mate bond is formed typically when the two people involve realize that they love the other and either say the words for the first time, or kiss, or something like that, it's just a display of emotion, basically."

Harry had never been so happy in his life, Ginny Weasley, was his soul mate. After he defeated Voldemort he would marry her…wait this was bad, he couldn't be with her, it wasn't safe. "Uh, Gin…"

Ginny knew what was coming; he was going to tell her that they would have to wait, that it wasn't safe, all that jazz. She cut him off before he could say it, and spoke directly into his mind, to remind him of just what they shared. '_Harry, I love you, and I want to be with you, please don't let Voldemort mess this up for us. I know that it's dangerous, but I don't care, I can take care of myself. What is the point of both of us being miserable?'_

Harry didn't know how to respond; technically she was right she could take care of herself. '_Gin, I can't put you in more danger.'_

'_I won't be in more danger, he already knows that you will do anything to save any of the people you care about, and I am a Weasley we are already in the middle of the war. I want both of us to make it through this war, and I believe that we will, but if by some chance one of us doesn't I don't want the other to spend the rest of their life, thinking that their one regret was never being together.'_

Harry couldn't fight it anymore, he could fight his own desires but, he couldn't fight Ginny, on top of that, '_Just promise me you'll do everything you can to remain safe, I can't lose you.'_

'_I promise, Harry.' _She pulled him into her arms and they fell asleep.


	25. Family Faux Pas

A/N: Okay so I lied, took me much longer than I thought to post, life got a little crazy. I have no idea when another chapter will be ready, so I hope you enjoy this one.

Disclaimer: I don't own it.

**Chapter 25: Family Faux Pas**

Ginny opened her eyes slowly, she felt Harry's arms around her and a smile spread across her face. They were finally together! She looked up at Harry, he was smiling down at her; she had never felt so content. "Morning, Harry." He kissed the top of her head and then pulled the covers back, she watched him walk across the room toward the bathroom. She got up and began making the bed; they both froze as someone knocked on the door.

Ron stood outside of Harry's door surprised his friend hadn't answered yet; Harry had always been a light sleeper. He knocked again a little louder, "Harry, mate are you in there?" He had been waiting in the common room for an hour and Harry hadn't come out yet.

Harry panicked; Ron was going to kill him. It didn't matter that nothing had happened, they were both in their pajamas, Ron would kill Harry and then ask Ginny to explain it. "Just a minute," was all that he managed to squeak out. Luckily for him Ginny was thinking straight. She dove under the bed as Harry hurriedly grabbed a dressing gown. He called for Ron to come in as he finished tying it.

Ron looked puzzled as he walked into the room, "Hey, just now getting up? You're usually up way before me."

It took Harry a few seconds to realize what Ron was talking about, "Uhhh…yeah…over slept, thanks for waking me, what can I do for you."

"I …um…just wanted to thank you for taking Ginny to the Ball. I know it meant a lot to her. And…" His voice trailed off, as the anger rose in Harry's face.

"Ron I didn't take Ginny to the Ball as a favor, I took her because…"

He was cut off by Ron, "I know, because you didn't want to go with Cho and you guys are friends, since she could go with you she didn't go with Dean…"

"Ron, listen to me," Harry said, trying to control his temper, "Ginny is _not _just my friend, I am in _love _with her, that's why I took her to the Ball. As of last night she is my girlfriend, and I do not appreciate you acting as though she is a child who needs to be placated. She is an intelligent, beautiful and amazing girl, and I don't need any reason other than that to want to spend time with her!" Harry knew that he was being a little dramatic but really it was time Ron realized that Ginny was capable of making her own decisions.

Ron's mouth dropped open, "I must be hearing things; you can't possibly be dating Ginny! You never asked me if you could date her, she's my sister!"

"So what, I asked her and she said yes, it's not your choice!" With that he turned on his heel and went into the restroom slamming the door behind him, he sat down on the edge of the tub, and put his head in his hands, moments later he heard the outer door slam and looked up as Ginny came through the door and sat down next to him.

Ginny was torn between her fury with Ron and her joy at the things Harry had said. As she sat down next to Harry, he took her hand, and looked up into her eyes, he looked so uncertain. She squeezed his hand and smiled he seemed to relax. "Come on you had better get me back, before he goes looking for me." Harry nodded and they disappeared, only to reappear moments later sitting on the edge of Ginny's still made bed. "Don't worry about it, he'll get over soon it enough," she gave him a quick kiss, "now, go get ready or we'll miss breakfast."

Hermione sat on a couch watching a furious Ron pace back and forth, he had stopped shouting several moments ago, but he continued cutting a path back and forth across the rug in front of her. She wasn't sure what to say, she didn't she any reason why Harry and Ginny should not date but she wasn't about to tell Ron that. So she sat silently hoping he would calm down soon. She looked up as a door opened and Draco entered the common room, she could tell from the look on his face that he had at least some idea of what was going on.

Draco flopped down on the couch next to Hermione, "Rough morning, eh?"

"Just a bit, how much do you know?"

"Heard most of the argument, far as I can't tell, Weasley here just flew off the deep end. Harry and Ginny are just dating its not like they are getting married, besides their perfect for each other."

"Well, there you go, they're perfect for each other, so eventually they will end up getting married, and Ginny is way too young for that."

Hermione shook her head, "Are you listening to yourself, Ron? They just started dating yesterday, they aren't going to rush out and get married."

Ron stopped pacing and sat down on Hermione's other side. He knew she was right even if he wasn't ready to admit it, it just hurt that Harry hadn't told him first. Hermione hadn't seemed at all surprised and Draco had taken it in stride, like they knew all along that this was coming, how had he been surprised like this. It wasn't so much that he didn't want Harry and Ginny to date, it was more that he resented that Harry, his best friend, didn't come to him first and tell him that this was coming, at least give him a heads up. Something like, hey I really like your baby sister, I'm thinking about asking her out.

Just then a door was flung open and Harry stormed into the room, he glared at Ron as he walked passed and went into the foyer between Ginny and Hermione's rooms. He knocked and waited for Ginny to call back and entered the room. He waited while she put her books in her bag, "So how do you want to handle things with Ron?"

"Well, let's just let him think that you are in here telling me about your fight, so I can be mad at him. He'll get over it soon enough."

"Sounds good."

Ginny looked at him over her shoulder, "Harry, did you really mean all the things you said about me, or were you just trying to win your fight with Ron?"

Harry crossed the room to her side, turned her around and kissed her passionately, he pulled away from her, and looked down into face, his eyes pleading with her to believe him, "You are incredible, Gin, I love you, no matter what happens, you can always believe in that." And she knew that she always would.

The mood out in the common room was tense Ron had lapsed back into silence and taken a seat, which somehow was worse than when he was pacing. While they waited for Harry and Ginny the rest of the House had joined them and been brought up to speed. While none of them had said so Hermione could tell from the looks on their faces that they didn't agree with Ron. They all rose swiftly as Harry and Ginny enter, the small girl shoot a look that could kill at her older brother, causing him to blanch, Hermione could just shake her head, and followed the other as the filed out of the common room.


End file.
